A Schwarz lemma and composition operators (Q1881585)

Let \(D\) be a domain in a complex Banach space \(E\) and let \(\triangle\) be the open unit disc in the complex plane. The authors first prove that \(\log((2 + d_D)/(2- d_D))\) coincides with the Carathéodory pseudo-distance \(C_D\) on \(D\), where the pseudo-distance \(d_D\) is defined by \(d_D(z,w):= \sup\{| f(z)-f(w)| : f : D \to \triangle\) holomorphic\}, \(z,w\in D\). This result is a Schwarz lemma for holomorphic maps from \(D\) into \(\triangle\). When specializing to the open unit ball \(B_E\), they obtain that \(d_{B_E}\) can be expressed in terms of holomorphic self-maps of \(B_E\). This description of \(d_{B_E}\) makes it suitable for the study of composition operators on the space \(H^\infty(B_E)\) of all bounded holomorphic functions on \(B_E\). In section 3, the authors study the connected components of composition operators on \(H^\infty(B)\) with the uniform norm topology where \(B\) is a bounded symmetric domain. They prove the following main result: the composition operators \(C_\varphi\) and \(C_\psi\) are in the same path connected component of the space of composition operators on \(H^\infty(B)\) if and only if \(| | C_\varphi - C_\psi| | < 2.\) This result extends the corresponding one variable result of \textit{B. MacCluer, S. Ohno} and \textit{R. Zhao} [Integral Equations Oper. Theory 40, 481--494 (2001; Zbl 1062.47511)] and, in the case where \(B\) is the open unit ball of a Hilbert space or of a commutative \(C^*\)-algebra, the result of \textit{R. Aron, P. Galindo} and \textit{M. Lindström} [Integral Equations Oper. Theory 45, 1--14 (2003; Zbl 1029.46053)].