Commutative Toeplitz Banach algebras on the ball and quasi-nilpotent group action (Q421101)

The present paper is an important contribution to the growing literature devoted to the study of commutative Banach algebras generated by Toeplitz operators acting on weighted Bergman spaces on different types of domains. To put the results in perspective, we will briefly outline the basic framework. Let \(\mathbb{D}\) be the unit disc in \(\mathbb{C}\) and let \(A_\lambda^2(\mathbb{D})\) denote the standard family of weighted Bergman spaces, consisting of functions \(f\) that are holomorphic on \(\mathbb{D}\) and square-integrable with respect to the weighted measure \(\frac{\lambda+1}{\pi}(1-| z|^2)^\lambda\,dz\) on \(\mathbb{D}\). The Toeplitz operator associated to a symbol \(\varphi\in L^\infty(\mathbb{D})\) is defined as \(T_\varphi f=P^\lambda(\varphi\cdot f)\), where \(P^\lambda\) is the orthogonal projection of the weighted \(L^2\)-space on \(\mathbb{D}\) onto \(A_\lambda^2\). One would then like to single out classes of symbols for which the associated Toeplitz operators generate \textit{commutative} Banach (or even \(C^*\)) algebras. Such classes have been characterized in several papers by Grudsky, Quiroga-Barranco and the second-named author (more generally, for the unit ball \(\mathbb{B}\) in \(\mathbb{C}^n\)) and involve classes of symbols that are invariant under the action of suitable subgroups of the automorphism group of \(\mathbb{D}\) (or, more generally, \(\mathbb{B}\)). The present paper, whose readable introduction briefly recounts the relevant history, is concerned with a different kind of subgroups, arising from an unbounded realization of the unit ball. Let \(\mathbb{B}=\mathbb{B}^n\) be the unit ball in \(\mathbb{C}^n\) and \(D_n\) its unbounded realization as a Siegel domain, that is, \[ D_n=\{z=(z',z_n)\in\mathbb{C}^{n-1}\times\mathbb{C}\,:\, \mathrm{Im}z_n-| z'|^2>0\}. \] The usual weighted measure \(d\mu_\lambda(z):=c_\lambda(1-| z|^2)^\lambda dz\) on \(\mathbb{B}\) thereby transforms into a weighted measure \(\widetilde{\mu}_\lambda\) on \(D_n\), namely, \[ d\widetilde{\mu}_\lambda=\frac{c_\lambda}{4}\bigl(\mathrm{Im}\zeta_n-|\zeta'|^2)^\lambda\,dv(\zeta',\zeta_n), \] where \(v\) is the Lebesgue measure on \(\mathbb{C}^n\simeq\mathbb{R}^{2n}\). The Toeplitz operator \(T_f\) with symbol function \(f\in L^\infty(D_n)\) is then defined as the compression of the multiplication operator \(M_f\) to the weighted Bergman space \(A_\lambda^2(D_n,\widetilde{\mu}_\lambda)\). Let \(1\leq k\leq n-2\) and write \(z=(z',w',z_n)\) for \(z\in D_n\), \(z'\in\mathbb{C}^k\) and \(w'\in\mathbb{C}^{n-k-1}\). An element \((t,b,h)\) of the \textit{quasi-nilpotent group} \(\mathbb{T}^k\times\mathbb{R}^{n-k-1}\times\mathbb{R}\) acts on \(D_n\) by \[ \tau_{(t,b,h)}:(z',w',z_n)\mapsto (tz',w'+b,z_n+h+2iw'\cdot b+i| b|^2). \] Let \(\alpha\in\mathbb{Z}_+^n\) with \(|\alpha|=k\) and order the coordinates of \(z'\in\mathbb{C}^k\) into \(m\) groups, according to \(z'_{(1)}=(z_{1,1}',\dots,z_{1,\alpha_1}')\) and so on, such that \(z'=(z_{(1)}',\dots,z_{(m)}')\). Introduce polar coordinates by writing \(z'_{(j)}\in\mathbb{C}^{\alpha_j}\) as \(z_{(j)}'=r_j\zeta_{(j)}\) with \(r_j=(| z_{j,1}'|^2+\cdots +| z_{j,\alpha_j}'|^2)^{1/2}\) and \(\zeta_{(j)}\in\mathbb{S}^{2\alpha_j-1}\subset\mathbb{C}^{\alpha_j}\). A typical class of symbols for the Toeplitz operators under consideration is that of quasi-nilpotent symbols, that is, a measurable function \(a:D_n\to\mathbb{C}\) of the form \(a(z)=a(r,y',\mathrm{Im}z_n-| w'|^2)\); such functions are invariant under the action of the quasi-nilpotent group. The main results of the paper involve necessary and sufficient conditions for Toeplitz operators with such (slightly more general) quasi-nilpotent symbols to commute and even generate a commutative Banach algebra. More precisely, the symbols have the form \[ b(z',w',z_n)=b_0(r_1,\dots,r_nm,y',\mathrm{Im}z_n-| w'|^2)\zeta^p \overline{\zeta}^q, \] where \(\zeta=(\zeta_{(1)},\dots,\zeta_{(m)})\in\mathbb{S}^{2\alpha_1-1}\times\cdots\times\mathbb{S}^{2\alpha_m-1}\) and \(p,q\in\mathbb{Z}_+^k\) are orthogonal. The resulting theorems are technical, so we shall not attempt a description here.