The rate of convergence in the method of alternating projections

A generalization of the cosine of the Friedrichs angle between two subspaces to a parameter associated to several closed subspaces of a Hilbert space is given. This parameter is used to analyze the rate of convergence in the von Neumann-Halperin method of cyclic alternating projections. General dichotomy theorems are proved, in the Hilbert or Banach space situation, providing conditions under which the alternative QUC/ASC (quick uniform convergence versus arbitrarily slow convergence) holds. Several meanings for ASC are proposed.