Classes of linear operators. Vol. II (Q1310468)

This volume is a continuation of the authors' ``Classes of linear operators'', Vol. I, Boston (1990; Zbl 0745.47002). The authors continue numeration of pages, chapters, etc. from Vol. I, and provide subject index and list of symbols that cover both volumes; the table of contents of Volume I is given as well. The bibliography is significantly expanded in comparison with Volume I; it contains 202 items against 81 in Volume I. Like Volume I, this volume is also intended as a source for graduate courses in linear operator theory and its applications, and is an excellent basis for reading courses or for self-study as well. It contains 105 exercises. Some topics here build on the material developed in Volume I; however, Volume II is self contained and can be studied independently for the most part, requiring only occasional references to Volume I. In contrast to Volume I, this volume deals exclusively with bounded operators. As for Volume I, the general prerequisites includes real analysis, complex function theory, and basic operator theory and functional analysis. Also here, the exposition is very polished and detailed, often simplified (in comparison with other sources), with a view to make the material accessible for a wide audience, including researchers and graduate students in mathematics, science (primarily physics and geophysics), and engineering (primarily electrical engineering). The selection of topics in Volume II is rather non-traditional, reflecting in many instances the research interests of the authors. Often, the exposition is enhanced by including very recent developments. The material in this book is of key importance in both mathematical theory and its numerous applications. Because of that, the book is also a valuable reference source for mathematicians and users of operator theory, perhaps more so than Volume I. Besides the standard applications (such as integral equations), the book contains applications and connections that have been developed relatively recently (interpolation problems, system theory). Volume II consists of five parts (numbered V through IX) and sixteen chapters (numbered XX through XXXV). Part V: Triangular representations. Here additive and multiplicative lower-upper triangular decompositions of operators with respect to discrete and continuous chains of subspaces are studied. Applications include LU-factorizations of semiseparable integral operators, generalized Wiener-Hopf equations, Volterra operators with one-dimensional imaginary part, and additive LU-decomposition in reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces. The technique of integration along chains is fully described. Part VI: Classes of Toeplitz operators. The focus is on Fredholm properties of Toeplitz operators whose symbols are continuous or piecewise continuous matrix functions defined on the unit circle. One chapter is devoted to the special case of Toeplitz operators with rational matrix symbols. Here explicit formulas for the index and for generalized inverse of such an operator are developed in terms of realizations of its symbol. Part VII: Contractive operators and characteristic operator functions. The exposition here covers familiar material: block shift operator, including the Beurling-Lax theorem; dilation theory; the commutant lifting theorem and Naimark's theorem on dilation of contraction semigroup are included, as well as applications of commutant lifting theorem to the Carathéodory-Schur and Nevanlinna-Pick interpolation problems. This part contains also a large (82 pages) chapter on unitary systems and characteristic operator functions. Here the Sz-Nagy-Foiaş characteristic operator function for contractions is presented and studied as a transfer function of a unitary system, thereby emphasizing the ideas of systems theory. Unitary equivalence of systems, and realization theorems, cascade connections and factorizations of the characteristic operator functions are treated in full detail. The last section in this chapter contains material on characteristic operator functions for dissipative operators. Part VIII: Banach algebras and algebras of operators. This part contains standard basic material on Banach and \(C^*\) algebras (including the Gelfand transform and the Gelfand-Naimark representation theorem), as well as applications and constructions that are less standard in textbooks (matrices over Banach algebras, Wiener-Hopf factorization of matrix functions, factorization in decomposable Banach algebras). One chapter is dedicated to Banach algebras generated by Toeplitz operators with continuous (or piecewise continuous) matrix symbols. The main results that identify the factor algebras by the ideal of compact operators are fully proved. Part IX: Extensions and completion problems. Here a general scheme (in the framework of *-algebras) for solution of positive definite and strictly contractive extension problems is presented in fully detail. The scheme is based on the band method. Chapter XXXIII contains the corresponding matrix problems and their solutions, and serves as an introduction and motivation for the abstract scheme which is the subject matter of Chapter XXXIV. In the last chapter of the book the abstract band method scheme is used to solve a variety of concrete problems; these include the Carathéodory-Toeplitz extension problem, the matrix version of the Nehari problem, and the tangential matrix Nevanlinna-Pick interpolation problem. Essentially all the mathematics presented in Part IX was developed during the last 10-15 years, and this is the first reasonably self contained, complete and detailed exposition of the theory of band method and its applications.