Metrics in the set of partial isometries with finite rank (Q2504813)

Summary: Let \(\mathcal{I}_{(\infty)}\) be the set of partial isometries with finite rank of an infinite dimensional Hilbert space \(\mathcal{H}\). We show that \(\mathcal{I}_{(\infty)}\) is a smooth submanifold of the Hilbert space \(\mathcal{B}_{2} (\mathcal{H})\) of Hilbert-Schmidt operators of \(\mathcal{H}\) and that each connected component is the set \(\mathcal{I}_N\), which consists of all partial isometries of rank \(N < \infty\). Furthermore, \(\mathcal{I}_{(\infty)}\) is a homogeneous space of \(\mathcal{U} (\infty) \times \mathcal{U} (\infty)\), where \(\mathcal{U} (\infty)\) is the classical Banach-Lie group of unitary operators of \(\mathcal{H}\), which are Hilbert-Schmidt perturbations of the identity. We introduce two Riemannian metrics in \(\mathcal{I}_{(\infty)}\): one, via the ambient inner product of \(\mathcal{B}_{2} (\mathcal{H})\), the other, by means of the group action. We show that both metrics are equivalent and complete.