Factorizations of characteristic functions of iterated liftings (Q6175661)

Let \(T\) be a contraction acting on a Hilbert space \(H\). The Julia-Halmos matrix corresponding to \(T\) is the unitary operator \(J_T\) defined by \[ J_T = \begin{bmatrix} T^* & (I - T^*T)^{\frac{1}{2}} \\ (I - TT^*)^{\frac{1}{2}} & -T \end{bmatrix}. \] This matrix appears implicitly as well as explicitly in the dilation theory as well as in the existence of invariant subspaces, which was initiated by Sz.-Nagy and Foias. The later theory was based on factorizations of certain operator-valued analytic functions, which are popularly known as characteristic functions of contractions. However, the Julia-Halmos matrix's factorization doesn't explicitly deal with the intriguing regularity condition. As a result, it doesn't have a direct connection with the regular factorizations of characteristic functions. It still continues to produce a lot of good research that connects with other theories. There may yet be untapped potential for further connection. The classical result of Sz.-Nagy and Foias was extended to the noncommuting case in the paper [\textit{K. J. Haria} et al., J. Oper. Theory 77, No. 2, 377--390 (2017; Zbl 1389.47021)]. The plan of action relied heavily on Gelu Popescu's decades-long theory. The work under review provides analogous factorization methods for characteristic functions in the context of contractive two-step iterated liftings in a noncommuting setup. In the framework of characteristic functions of liftings, we recommend the reader to [\textit{S. Dey} and \textit{R. Gohm}, J. Oper. Theory 65, No. 1, 17--45 (2011; Zbl 1222.47009)].