On quasi-contractivity of $C_0$-semigroups on Banach spaces

A basic result in semigroup theory states that every $C_0$-semigroup is quasi-contractive with respect to some appropriately chosen equivalent norm. This paper contains a counterpart of this well-known fact. Namely, by examining the convergence of the Trotter-type formula $(e^{\frac{t}{n}A}P)^n$ (where $P$ denotes a bounded projection), we prove that whenever the generator $A$ is unbounded it is possible to introduce an equivalent norm on the space with respect to which the semigroup is {\it{not}} quasi-contractive.