A note on mean ergodic composition operators on spaces of holomorphic functions (Q692324)

Let \(T\) be a continuous linear operator on a Hausdorff locally convex space \(E\). Denote by \(\mathbb{N}\) the set of all positive integers. The \(n\)\textit{-th iterate} \(T^n\) of \(T\) is defined inductively by \(T^1=T\) and \(T^{n+1}=T \circ T^n\), \(n\in\mathbb{N}\). \smallskip The operator \(T\) is called \textit{power bounded} if the sequence of iterates \(\{T^n\}_{n\in \mathbb{N}}\) is equicontinuous in the space of linear operators on \(E\). If the limits \[ \lim_{N\to\infty} \frac 1N\sum_{n=1}^N T^n x\,, \quad x\in E\,, \] exist in \(E\), the operator \(T\) is called \textit{mean ergodic}. In the cases when the space \(E\) is barrelled and \(T\) is mean ergodic, the sequence \(\frac 1N\sum_{n=1}^N T^n\) converges pointwise to a continuous linear projection \(P\) (which is called the \textit{projection associated to} \(T\)). If the convergence is uniform on bounded sets, then \(T\) is named \textit{uniformly mean ergodic}. Let \(U\) be a domain of \(\mathbb{C}^d, d\geq 1\), or, more generally, of a Stein manifold \(\Omega\) and denote the family of holomorphic functions in \(U\) by \(H(U)\). Given any function \(\varphi \in H(U)\) with \(\varphi(U)\subset U\), the \textit{composition operator} \(C_\varphi :H(U)\to H(U)\) \textit{with symbol} \(\varphi\) is defined by \(C_\varphi(f)=f\circ\varphi\). Since \(H(U)\) is a Fréchet space, the uniform boundedness principle can be applied to conclude that \(C_\varphi\) is power bounded if and only if the orbit \(\{C_\varphi^n(f): n\in \mathbb{N}\}\) is bounded for every \(f\in H(U)\). In this paper, the authors characterize those composition operators \(C_\varphi\) which are power bounded. Concretely, they show that the following conditions are equivalent: {\parindent=8mm \begin{itemize}\item[(i)] \(C_\varphi :H(U)\to H(U)\) is power bounded. \item[(ii)] \(C_\varphi :H(U)\to H(U)\) is mean ergodic. \item[(iii)] \(C_\varphi :H(U)\to H(U)\) is uniformly mean ergodic. \item[(iv)] The holomorphic map \(\varphi\) \textit{has stable orbits on} \(U\), which means that, for every compact subset \(K\) of \(U\), there is a compact subset \(L\Subset U\) such that for all \(n \in \mathbb{N}\), \(\varphi^n(K)\subseteq L\). \item[(v)] There is a fundamental family of connected compact sets \((L_j)\) in \(U\) such that \(\varphi(L_j)\subseteq L_j\) for every positive integer \(j\). \end{itemize}} The authors also analyze the holomorphic functions \(\varphi :U\to U\) for which condition (iv) above holds. To do so, they use the arguments given by \textit{M.~Abate} [Iteration theory of holomorphic maps on taut manifolds. Commenda di Rende (Italy): Mediterranean Press (1989; Zbl 0747.32002)] to describe those maps \(\varphi\) for which \(C_\varphi :H(U)\to H(U)\) is power bounded and show, in addition, the uniform convergence of orbits. The form of the projection \(P\) associated to a given power bounded composition operator is provided as well. As a consequence, a description of the symbols (and of the associated projections) of power bounded composition operators acting on holomorphic functions in the unit ball \(B_d\) of the \(d\)-dimensional complex space \(\mathbb{C}^d\) is obtained.