Operator algebras generated by commuting projections: a vector measure approach (Q1805573)

This enjoyable Springer Lecture Notes volume presents an introduction to the theory of scalar-type spectral operators on Banach spaces. It contains an expanded version of lectures the author gave at the University of Linz in 1997. Very briefly, the contents of the book is as follows. Chapters I and II contain background material on vector measures and Boolean algebras. Chapters III--V study spectral measures, the notion of Bade completeness and representation theorems for the closed linear span of a Boolean algebra of projections. A central result is the isomorphism between the suitably topologised \(L^1\)-space with respect to a closed spectral measure and the strong operator closed linear span of the Bade complete Boolean algebra \(P(\Sigma)\). One feature of the author's approach is the use of Boolean algebras and vector measures (as opposed to Banach algebra techniques); a prominent role is played by Rybakov's theorem on control measures of the form \({x'\circ m}\). The final two chapters deal with applications such as the Bade reflexivity theorem and the recent theorem, due to de Pagter and the author, that every Bade complete Boolean algebra of projections on a separable Banach space coincides with the resolution of the identity of some scalar-type spectral operator having real spectrum. Many examples given throughout the book make the text attractive for students and researchers alike. An appendix gathers an extended bibliography of papers relevant to the subject matter of the book which have appeared in the last 20~years.