A characterization of polynomially convex sets in Banach spaces (Q681257)

The authors' interest is to extend the following result to compacta \(K\) contained in an infinite-dimensional complex Banach space. Theorem. A compact set \(K \subset \mathbb C^n\) is polynomially convex if and only if there exists a commutative Banach algebra \(\mathcal A\) with \(1\) that is generated by \(n\) elements \(\{a_1,\dots, a_n\}\) such that \(K\) is the joint spectrum of \((a_1,\dots,a_n);\) that is, \(K = \{ (\varphi(a_1), \dots, \varphi(a_n)) \;| \;\varphi \in \mathcal M(\mathcal A) \}\). (Here, \(\mathcal M(\mathcal A)\) is the space of homomorphisms on \(\mathcal A\).) In the context of infinitely many variables, let \(\mathcal A\) be a commutative Banach algebra with unit \(1,\) let \(X \neq \emptyset\) be arbitrary, and let \(f : X\to \mathcal A\) be a function. In this situation, the joint spectrum of \(f\) is defined to be the set of all functions \(\lambda: X \to \mathbb C\) such that the ideal in \(\mathcal A\) generated by \(\{\lambda(x)1 - f(x) \;| \;x \in X\}\) is proper. In [Rev. R. Acad. Cienc. Exactas Fís. Nat., Ser. A Mat., RACSAM 112, No. 1, 103--115 (2018; Zbl 1407.46042)], the authors showed that the joint spectrum of \(f\) is equal to \(\{\varphi \circ f \;| \;\varphi \in \mathcal M(\mathcal A)\}\). Theorem. Let \(X\) be a compact Hausdorff space and let \(K \subset \mathcal C(X)\) be compact. The following statements are equivalent: {\parindent=0.8cm\begin{itemize}\item[(i)] The set \(K\) is polynomially convex. \item[(ii)] There is a unital commutative Banach algebra \(\mathcal A\) and a continuous function \(f : X \to \mathcal A\) such that \(f(X)\) generates \(A\) and \(K\) is the joint spectrum of \(f\). \end{itemize}} In addition, the authors characterize polynomially convex sets in a Banach space \(E\) as follows: Theorem. For a compact set \(K \subset E\), the following are equivalent: {\parindent=0.8cm\begin{itemize}\item[(i)] The set \(K\) is polynomially convex in \(E\). \item[(ii)] There is a commutative Banach algebra \(\mathcal A\) with unit and a continuous function \(f : \overline{B_{E^\ast}} \to \mathcal A\) such that \(\mathcal A\) is generated by \(f(\overline{B_{E^\ast}})\) and \(K\) is the joint spectrum of \(f.\) Moreover, \(K\) is homeomorphic to \(\mathcal M(\mathcal A)\). \end{itemize}} (Note that throughout, only so-called finite type polynomials are considered.)