Holomorphic automorphisms and collective compactness in \(J^*\)-algebras of operators (Q2464682)

Let \(X\) and \(Y\) be two Banach spaces, a subset \(\mathcal{W}\in \mathcal{L} (X,Y)\) is said to be collectively compact if \(\mathcal{W} (B_{X}) := \bigcup_{T\in \mathcal{W}} T(B_{X})\) is relatively compact in \(Y\), where \(B_X\) and \(\mathcal{L}(X,y)\) denote the closed unit ball of \(X\) and the space of all bounded linear operators between \(X\) and \(Y\), respectively. \(\mathcal{W}\) is contained in the space, \(\mathcal{K} (X,Y)\), of all compact operators between \(X\) and \(Y\) whenever it collectively. For a set \(\mathcal{W}\in \mathcal{K} (X,Y)\), it is known that \(\mathcal{W}\) is relatively compact if and only if both \(\mathcal{W}\) and \(\mathcal{W}^*\) are collectively compact. Therefore, relative compactness implies collective compactness but the converse is not true. It is also known that surjective linear isometries of the space \(\mathcal{L} (X,Y)\) need not preserve collective compactness. Let \(H\) and \(K\) be two complex Hilbert spaces. A J*-algebra (also termed a \(\text{ JC}^*\)-triple) is a norm closed complex vector subspace \(A\) of \(\mathcal{L} (H,K)\) which is closed under the product \(a\mapsto aa^{*}a\). As is well known, the real Banach-Lie group \(G\) of biholomorphic automorphisms of the open unit balls \(B_{A}\) of such spaces is transitive, making \(B_{A}\) into a bounded symmetric domain. The real Banach-Lie algebra \(\mathfrak{g}:= \Aut(B_{A})\) consists of all complete holomorphic vector fields on \(B_{A}\). In this paper, the author studies a subgroup \(F\) of \(G\) that preserves the family \(\mathcal{F}_{B_{A}}\) of all collectively compact subsets of \(B_{A}\). One of the main results establishes necessary and sufficient conditions for an automorphism \(g\in G\) to preserve the family \(\mathcal{F}_{B_{A}}\). A description of the subgroup \(F\) of those \(g\in G\) that preserve \(\mathcal{F}_{B_{A}}\) is also provided. A special attention is paid to the case in which \(A\) is a special Cartan factor. In this case the author proves that all surjective linear isometries in the identity connected component of the unitary group of \(A\) preserve collective compactness and all derivations of \(A\) preserve the family \(\mathcal{F}_{B_{A}}\).