Isometric composition operators on Lipschitz spaces (Q2178603)

Given metric spaces \((X,d_X)\) and \((Y,d_Y)\) with base points \(e_X\in X\) and \(e_Y\in Y\), respectively, and a Lipschitz continuous map \(\phi: X\to Y\) satisfying \(\phi(e_X)= e_Y\), the author studies the inner composition operator \(C_\phi: \mathrm{Lip}_0(X)\to \mathrm{Lip}_0(Y)\) defined by \(C_\phi f:= f\circ\phi\). Here, the subscript \(0\) means that \(f\in \mathrm{Lip}_0(X)\) satisfies \(f(e_X)= 0\), and \(\mathrm{Lip}_0(X)\) is equipped with the natural norm \(\Vert f\Vert_{\mathrm{Lip}_0(X)}:= \mathrm{lip}(f)\), the minimal Lipschitz constant of \(F\). In particular, the author is interested in finding conditions on \(\phi\) under which \(C_\phi\) is an isometry. Clearly, from \(\Vert C_\phi\Vert_{\mathrm{Lip}_0(X)\to \mathrm{Lip}_0(Y)}= \mathrm{lip}(\phi)\) it follows that a necessary condition is that \(\phi\) be nonexpansive; moreover, in this case one has \(\Vert C_f\Vert_{\mathrm{Lip}_0(X)\to \mathrm{Lip}_0(Y)}\le 1\), but not equality in general. In the main theorem, the author shows that, in addition to nonexpansiveness of \(\phi\), a hypothesis called condition (M) (too technical to be reproduced here) gives a criterion, both necessary and sufficient, for \(C_\phi\) to be an isometry. Reviewer's remark. It would have been helpful if the author had provided an example for \(\phi:X\to X\), different from the identity, which generates an isometry \(C_\phi\).