On the compactness of Grunsky differential operators (Q2193011)

The \textit{universal Teichmüller space} \(M\) is a complex Banach manifold, which contains the Teichmüller space of any Riemann surface in a natural way. Points in \(M\) are (equivalence classes) of certain quasiconformal maps of the unit disk. Associated to each point in \(M\) can be a certain differential operator (a so-called \textit{Grunsky operator}) on the Hilbert space \(l^2\) of sequences via the \textit{Grunsky map}. Properties of these operators can be related to geometric properties of the corresponding points in Teichmüller space. For example, the \textit{little subspace} of asymptotically conformal transformations corresponds exactly to the points where the Grunsky operators are compact operators. The central result of this paper estimates the norm of the derivative of the Grunsky map.