A note on universal operators between separable Banach spaces (Q2189987)

This article is set in the realm of separable Banach spaces. A~universal operator is defined as one for which every other bounded linear operator, with norm no larger, is essentially a restriction of it. The domain and codomain of such an operator must be universal for separable Banach spaces. The authors [J. Oper. Theory 73, No. 1, 143--158 (2015; Zbl 1424.47002)] previously constructed a universal operator, denoted \(\Omega\), on the Gurarii space. A~left-universal operator is defined as one for which every other bounded linear operator, with the same codomain and norm no larger, is essentially a restriction of it. A~left-universal operator whose codomain is a universal space must be a universal operator. A~special converse is proved here: \(\Omega\) is left-universal. \textit{F. Cabello Sánchez} and the authors [J. Funct. Anal. 267, No. 3, 744--771 (2014; Zbl 1321.46003)] showed that any separable Banach space \({\mathbb S}\) is the codomain of a left-universal operator \(P_{\mathbb S}\). The main theme of this article is the relationship between \(\Omega\) and \(P_{\mathbb S}\); amongst other things, it is shown that they coincide when \({\mathbb S}\) is the Gurarii space.