Joint similarity and dilations for noncontractive sequences of operators. (Q1869040)

As was shown by Davis and Foiaş, any bounded linear operator in a Hilbert space with bounded characteristic function is similar to a contraction. This result was derived in \textit{Ch. Davis} and \textit{C. Foiaş} [Acta Sci. Math. 32, 127--139 (1971; Zbl 0213.40804)] from the Krein space dilation theory for noncontractive operators developed in \textit{Ch. Davis} [Acta Sci. Math. 31, 75--86 (1970; Zbl 0211.17501)]. In the present paper, the authors define a characteristic function for a \(d\)-tuple \({\mathcal T}=(T_1,\dots, T_d)\) (\(d\in{\mathbb N}\) or \(d=\infty\)) of a noncontractive and noncommutative sequence of operators in Hilbert space \({\mathcal H}\). The main result of the paper is a multivariable version of the Davis--Foias theorem: the \(d\)-tuple \({\mathcal T}\) with bounded characteristic function \(\theta_{\mathcal T}\) is jointly similar to a contractive sequence of operators. The proof of this result is based on the multivariable dilation theory on Fock spaces with indefinite metric developed in the present paper for \(d\)-tuples of noncontractive operators in Hilbert spaces. In the case when \({\mathcal T}\) is a \(d\)-tuple of contractions, the corresponding dilation theory on Fock spaces was elaborated by \textit{G. Popescu} [Trans. Am. Math. Soc. 316, 523--536 (1989; Zbl 0691.47008)].