Apostol algebras and decomposition in Douglas algebras (Q1380983)

Let \(A\) be a function algebra, i.e. a uniformly closed, point-separating, and unital subalgebra of the space of continuous complex-valued functions on a compact Hausdorff space. Each element \(f\in A\) induces a multiplication operator \(T_f\). This operator is said to be decomposable if every open covering \(U\cup V\) of the complex plane \(\mathbb{C}\) gives rise to closed \(T_f\) invariant subspaces \(A_U\), resp. \(A_V\) of \(A\) for which \(A= A_U+ A_V\) and \(\sigma(T\mid A_U) \subseteq U\), \(\sigma(T\mid A_V) \subseteq V\), \(\sigma\) denoting ordinary operator spectrum. The set of elements \(f\) for which \(T_f\) is decomposable is denoted by \(\text{Dec}(A)\) and called the Apostol algebra. Neumann showed that \(\text{Dec}(A)\) consists of the elements \(f\) which are hull-kernel continuous on the spectrum \(\Delta(A)\) of \(A\). Another interesting subalgebra, denoted by \(\text{Reg}(A)\), is the greatest regular subalgebra of \(A\). Its existence has been established by Albrecht and further work on it is found in the references. It is always true that \(\text{Reg}(A) \subseteq \text{Dec}(A)\), while precise conditions for equality are not yet known. This paper considers first a function algebra \(A_0\) with unique representing measures and shows that the algebra \(\text{Cos}(A_0):= \{f\in A_0:f\) is constant on the support of every representing measure on the Shilov boundary \(\partial A\}\) contains \(\text{Dec}(A_0)\). If \(L^\infty\) denotes the essentially bounded measurable functions on the unit circle and \(H^\infty\) the boundary values of bounded analytic functions on the open unit disc, then a closed subalgebra \(B\) located between these, i.e. \(H^\infty \subseteq B\subseteq L^\infty\), is called a Douglas algebra. It is shown here that for a Douglas algebra \(B\), the three algebras coincide: \(\text{Reg}(B)= \text{Dec}(B)= \text{Cos}(B)\). Several other results for Douglas algebras are established. We mention, in particular, the following. An element \(f\in A_0\) is said to have full range on support sets if \(f(x)\) belongs to the range of \(f\) on the support of the representing measure of \(x\), and the set of functions with full range on support sets is called \(\text{Frs}(A_0)\). It is then shown that for any Douglas algebra \(B\), \(B= \text{Frs}(H^\infty)+ \text{Frs}(B)\). In particular, \(H^\infty= \text{Frs}(H^\infty)+ \text{Frs}(H^\infty)\).