On a class of operators of finite type (Q2494129)

A planar domain \(\Omega\) is said to be a quadrature domain if there exist points \(z_1,\dots,z_m\) in \(\Omega\) and complex numbers \(\{\alpha_{ij}: 1\leq i\leq m,0\leq j\leq n_I\}\) such that \[ \int_{\Omega}f(z)dArea(z)=\sum_{i=1}^m\sum_{j=0}^ {n_i}f^{(j)}(z_i) \] for every analytic function \(f\in L^1(\Omega)\). The paper under review is a contribution to the study of the interplay between quadrature domains and operator theory. This field of research has been intensively pursued over the last decade, bringing many new insights into the model theory of operators on the one side and the analysis of quadrature domains on the other. There are two major classes of operators involved in this theory. One of them is the class of pure hyponormal operators \(T\) with rank-one self-commutators , i.e., \(T^*T-TT^*=\xi\otimes\xi\) and such that the cyclic \(T^*\)-invariant subspace generated by \(\xi\) is finite-dimensional. The connection between these operators and quadrature domains has been made through the pioneering work of \textit{M.~Putinar} [J.\ Funct.\ Anal.\ 136, No.~2, 331--364 (1996; Zbl 0917.47014); Ark.\ Mat.\ 33, No.~2, 357--376 (1995; Zbl 0892.47025)]. The other class is that of pure subnormal operators with finite rank self-commutators and the relationship between these operators and quadrature domains has been strikingly put in evidence by \textit{J.~E.\ McCarthy} and \textit{L.--M.\ Yang} [Adv.\ Math.\ 127, No.~1, 52--72 (1997; Zbl 0902.47024)]. A bounded operator \(T\) on some separable Hilbert space \(H\) is said to be of finite type if the range of the self-commutator \([T^*,T]\) generates a finite-dimensional \(T^*\)-invariant subspace. The main object of study in the present paper is a certain subclass \(F\) of the class of operators of finite type which contains in particular, as the author shows, all hyponormal operators with rank-one self-commutators of the type mentioned above. It also contains all pure subnormal operators with finite rank self-commutators. The class \(F\) is defined in terms related to the quadrature domain \(D_T\) (on a Riemann surface \(R\)) that can be associated to any operator of finite type. One of the basic results of the paper is an analytic model for operators in the class \(F\) that extends the previous models given by \textit{J.~D.\ Pincus}, \textit{D.--X.\ Xia} and \textit{J.--B.\ Xia} [Integral Equations Oper.\ Theory 7, No.~4, 516--535 (1984; Zbl 0592.47013)] and by \textit{D.--X.\ Xia} [Integral Equations Oper.\ Theory 48, No.~1, 115--135 (2004; Zbl 1062.47032)]. This model represents operators in the class \(F\) as multiplications by the independent variable on a certain Hilbert space completion of vector-valued rational functions with poles off \(\sigma(T)\). For operators in the class \(F\), the author proves the existence of a mosaic, which is, roughly speaking, an operator-valued function providing integral representation formulas for commutators of the form \([p(T^*,T),T]\). Several kernel functions associated to operators of finite type are analyzed in great detail. These results extend similar ones previously obtained for the case of subnormal operators of finite type. The final section contains several illuminating examples of operators of finite type, thus proving the broad range of applications of these very interesting results.