Representative Functions, Variational Convergence and Almost Convexity

We develop a new epi-convergence based on the use of bounded convergent nets on the product topology of the strong topology on the primal space and weak star topology on the dual space of a general real Banach space. We study the propagation of the associated variational convergences through conjugation of convex functions defined on this product space. These results are then applied to the problem of construction of a bigger-conjugate representative function for the recession operator associated with a maximal monotone operator on this real Banach space. This is then used to study the relationship between the recession operator of a maximal monotone operator and the normal–cone operator associated with the closed, convex hull of the domain of that monotone operator. This allows us to show that the strong closure of the domain of any maximal monotone operator is convex in a general real Banach space.