Spectra of weighted composition operators with automorphic symbols (Q2436877)

Let \(u\) and \(\varphi\) be two analytic functions in the unit disk \(\mathbb D\) with \(\varphi(\mathbb D)\subset \mathbb D\). These maps induce via composition and multiplication a linear \textit{weighted composition operator} \(u C_\varphi\) which is defined on the set of analytic functions in \(\mathbb D\) by \(uC_\varphi(f)=u(f\circ \varphi)\). Two particularly important special cases of such operators are the composition operator \(C_\varphi\) (obtained by taking \(u\equiv 1\)) and the multiplication operator \(M_u\) (obtained by setting \(\varphi=\operatorname{Id}\), the identity function on \(\mathbb D\)). Before stating the main results in the paper, we fix some notation. For non-negative quantities \(A(t)\) and \(B(t)\), let \(A(t) \lesssim B(t)\) denote the fact that there exists a positive constant \(c\), which does not depend on the variable \(t\), so that \(A(t)\leq cB(t)\) for all \(t\). If \(A(t) \lesssim B(t) \lesssim A(t)\), the notation \(A(t) \approx B(t)\) is used. The framework considered in this paper is the following. Let \(\mathcal A\) be a Banach space of analytic functions on the unit disk which contains constant functions and denote by \(\|\cdot\|_\mathcal A\) its norm. As usual, the Banach dual of \(\mathcal A\) is denoted by \(\mathcal A^*\). The evaluation functional at \(z\in\mathbb D\), denoted by \(\delta_z: \mathcal A\to\mathbb C\), is defined by \(\delta_z(f)=f(z)\) for \(f\in\mathcal A\). The following conditions (and their weaker invariants, distinguished by prime) are considered in the paper for \(\mathcal A\)-type spaces. {\parindent=9mm \begin{itemize} \item[(C1)] There is a positive constant \(s\) such that for each \(f\in\mathcal A\) and each \(z\in\mathbb D\), \(|f(z)|\lesssim \|f\|_\mathcal A (1-|z|^2)^{-s}\) and for any \(z\in\mathbb D\) there is some function \(f_z\in\mathcal A\) with \(\|f_z\|_\mathcal A\leq 1\) such that \(f_z(z)(1-|z|^2)^s=1\). \item [(C1)'] There is a positive constant \(s\) such that for each \(f\in \mathcal A\) and each \(z\in\mathbb D\), \(|f(z)|\lesssim \|f\|_\mathcal A (1-|z|^2)^{-s}\) and also that \(\|\delta_z\|_{\mathcal A^*}\to \infty\) as \(|z|\to 1\). \item [(C2)] There is a positive constant \(s\) such that \(\|C_\varphi\|\lesssim (1-|\varphi(0)|^2)^{-s}\) whenever \(\varphi\) is an automorphism of \(\mathbb D\). \item [(C3)] For each \(u\in H^\infty\), the Banach space of bounded analytic functions in the unit disk, we have \[ \|M_u\|\leq \sup_{z\in{\mathbb D}} |u(z)|. \] \item [(C4)] Polynomials are dense in \(\mathcal A\). \end{itemize}} The following three spaces are interesting examples of \(\mathcal A\)-type spaces. (a) The standard weighted Bergman space \(A_\alpha^p(\mathbb D)\), \(1\leq p<\infty\) and \(\alpha >-1\), consists of analytic functions in the unit disk such that \[ \|f\|^p_{A_\alpha^p}=\int_{\mathbb D} |f(z)|^p (1-|z|^2)^\alpha\, dA(z)<\infty, \] where \(dA(z)\) denotes the normalized Lebesgue area measure on \(\mathbb D\). All conditions (C1)--(C4) are satisfied with \(s=(\alpha+2)/p\). (b) The Hardy space \(H^p(\mathbb D)\), \(1\leq p <\infty\), that contains all analytic functions in \(\mathbb D\) such that \[ \|f\|^p_{H^p}=\int_0^{2\pi} |f(e^{it})|^p\, dt<\infty, \] fulfills the conditions (C1)--(C4) as well with \(s=1/p\). (c) The space \(H^\infty_{v_p}(\mathbb D)\) that consists of all analytic functions in \(\mathbb D\) with \( \|f\|=\sup_{z\in \mathbb D} |f(z)|(1-|z|^2)^p<\infty\). This space satisfies the conditions (C1)--(C3) with \(s=p\) but fails to satisfy the condition (C4). The authors first obtain necessary and sufficient conditions in terms of \(u\) and \(\varphi\) for the weighted composition operator \(uC_\varphi\) to be invertible on \(\mathcal A\)-type spaces. This is done by first characterizing the Fredholmness of \(uC_\varphi\) and then using this characterization to get the desired result. More concretely, it is proved that, if the Banach space of analytic functions \(\mathcal A\) satisfies (C1)', (C2), and (C4), then the weighted composition operator \(uC_\varphi\) is Fredholm if and only if \(M_u\) is Fredholm and \(\varphi\) is an automorphism of the unit disk. As a corollary, it is proved that, if such space \(\mathcal A\) satisfies (C1)', (C2), and (C4), then the operator \(uC_\varphi\) is invertible on \(\mathcal A\) if and only if \(u\) is bounded and bounded away from zero on \(\mathbb D\) and \(\varphi\) is an automorphism of the unit disk. In the rest of the paper, only weighted composition operators \(uC_\varphi\) induced by an automorphic symbol \(\varphi\) are considered. If \(\mathcal A\) satisfies conditions (C1) and (C2), then such an operator \(uC_\varphi\) is invertible if and only if \(u\) is bounded and bounded away from zero on \(\mathbb D\), regardless of the fact whether \(\mathcal A\) satisfies the condition (C4). The paper continues with the determination of the spectrum \(\sigma(uC_\varphi)\) of invertible \(uC_\varphi\) for an automorphic symbol \(\varphi\). General proofs for the obtained results are provided (instead of relying on space-specific techniques or repeating the same arguments on different spaces). The main results of the paper are now stated. {Theorem 4.3.} Let the Banach space \(\mathcal A\) satisfy conditions (C1), (C2), and (C3). Let \(uC_\varphi\) be invertible on \(\mathcal A\), where \(\varphi\) is a parabolic automorphism of \(\mathbb D\), and let \(a\in\partial\mathbb D\) be the unique fixed point of \(\varphi\) in \(\overline{\mathbb D}\). Assume that \(u \in A(\mathbb D)\), the algebra of those analytic functions which are continuous on \(\overline{\mathbb D}\). Then the spectrum \(\sigma(uC_\varphi)\) of the weighted composition operator \(uC_\varphi\) equals \[ \sigma(uC_\varphi)=\{\lambda\in\mathbb C: |\lambda|=|u(a)|\}. \] In the case when \(\varphi\) is a hyperbolic automorphism of \(\mathbb D\), the authors obtain some non-sharp estimates for the spectral radius of \(u C_\varphi\) when it acts on a general Banach space \(\mathcal A\) satisfying conditions (C1), (C2), and (C3). For this reason, their result for spectra in this general case is not optimal though it generalizes previous corresponding results obtained in [\textit{G. Gunatillake}, J. Funct. Anal. 261, No. 3, 831--860 (2011; Zbl 1218.47037)]. However, for the most important \(\mathcal A\)-type spaces mentioned above, the authors obtain significantly stronger results. First, they manage to calculate the spectral radius of the operator \[ r(uC_\varphi)=\max\left\{\frac{|u(a)|}{\varphi'(a)^s}, \frac{|u(b)|}{\varphi'(b)^s} \right\}, \] where \(a\) is the Denjoy-Wolff point and \(b\) is the other fixed point of \(\varphi\). This makes possible to prove their main result regarding the cases when \(\varphi\) is a hyperbolic automorphism of \(\mathbb D\). {Theorem 4.9.} Let \(\mathcal A\) be any of the spaces \(A_\alpha^p(\mathbb D)\), \(H^p(\mathbb D)\), or \(H_{v_p}^\infty(\mathbb D)\). Let \(\varphi\) be a hyperbolic automorphism of \(\mathbb D\) with the attractive fixed point \(a\) and the repulsive fixed point \(b\). Assume that \(u\in A(\mathbb D)\) is bounded away from zero and \(|u(b)/\varphi'(b)^s|\leq |u(a)/\varphi'(a)^s|\). Then \[ \sigma(uC_\varphi)=\left\{\lambda\in\mathbb C: \frac{|u(b)|}{\varphi'(b)^s}\leq |\lambda|\leq \frac{|u(a)|}{\varphi'(a)^s}\right\}. \] The complete description of the spectrum of invertible \(uC_\varphi\) with hyperbolic symbol \(\varphi\) was obtained in [the first and third authors, Concr. Oper. 2, 110--119 (2015; Zbl 1321.47061)], where a different technique is applied to deal with the case \(|u(b)/\varphi'(b)^s|> |u(a)/\varphi'(a)^s|\). The spectrum of each \(uC_\varphi\) on \(\mathcal A\) when \(\varphi\) is an elliptic automorphism of the unit disk, deduced using standard techniques, is also considered in the paper and included for the sake of completeness. As usual, for a non-negative integer \(n\), we use \(\varphi_n\) to denote the \(n\)-th iterate of \(\varphi\), defined recursively by \(\varphi_0=\operatorname{Id}\) and \(\varphi_n=\varphi\circ\varphi_{n-1}\) for \(n\geq 1\). In the case where \(\varphi\) corresponds a rational rotation and \(k\) is the smallest integer for which \(\varphi_k=\operatorname{Id}\), then \[ \sigma(uC_\varphi)=\overline{\{\lambda\in\mathbb C: \lambda^k=u(z)\dots u(\varphi_{k-1}(z)),\;z\in\mathbb D\}}. \] If \(\varphi\) corresponds an irrational rotation, then \(\varphi_n\neq \operatorname{Id}\) for each \(n\geq 1\) and the spectrum is \[ \sigma(uC_\varphi)=\{\lambda\in\mathbb C: |\lambda|=|u(a)|\}, \] where \(a\) is the fixed point of \(\varphi\) in \(\mathbb D\).