Spectral characteristics and stable ranks for the Sarason algebra \(H^\infty + C\) (Q1958006)

Let \(A\) be a commuative Banach algebra with unit \(e\) and \(U_n(A)\) the set of all invertible \(n\)-tuples \(a=(a_1,\dots, a_n)\in A^n\), that is, the set of \(n\)-tuples \(a=(a_1,\dots, a_n)\in A^n\) for which there exists \(x=(x_1,\dots, x_n)\in A^n\) such that \(\sum_{k=1}^na_kx_k=e\). For every \(b\in A\), the \((n+1)\)-tuple \((a,b)\in U_{n+1}(A)\) is reducible if there exists \(x\in A^n\) such that \(a+bx\in U_n(A)\). The Bass stable rank of \(A\) is the smallest integer \(n\) for which every invertible \((n+1)\)-tuple is reducible; the topological rank of \(A\) is the smallest integer \(n\) for which \(U_n(A)\) is dense in \(A^n\) and the dense stable rank of \(A\) is the smallest integer \(n\) such that for every commutative Banach algebra \(B\) with unit and every algebra homomorphism \(f:A\to B\) with dense image, \(f(U_n(A))\) is dense in \(U_n(B)\). Let \(H^\infty\) denote the algebra of bounded holomorphic functions in \(\{z\in\mathbb{C}:|z|<1\}\) and \(C\) the algebra of complex-valued continuous functions on the unit circle \(\mathbb{T}\). The case when \(A=H^\infty +C\) is considered in the paper under review. It is shown that the corona theorem with bounds holds on \(H^\infty +C\), the Bass stable rank and the dense stable rank of \(H^\infty +C\) is 1, and the topological stable rank of \(H^\infty +C\) is 2.