Structure of certain operators from a nest algebra (Q1063221)

Let \({\mathcal L}(H)\) denote the algebra of all bounded linear operators on a complex Hilbert space H and let \(A\in {\mathcal L}(H)\) be similar to a self- adjoint operator. Then A gives rise in a natural way to a complete chain \({\mathcal G}\) of orthogonal projections on H and A belongs to the corresponding nest algebra \({\mathcal N}\). The main aim of the present note is to obtain the decomposition \(A=A_ 0+A_+\), where the selfadjoint operator \(A_ 0\) belongs to the von-Neumann algebra generated by \({\mathcal G}\) and \(A_+\) lies in the radical of \({\mathcal N}\). A corresponding multiplicative decomposition for an operator similar to a unitary one is also given. The paper ends with a proof of the existence of a conditional expectation of \({\mathcal L}(H)\) onto the diagonal of an arbitrary nest algebra on H.