Multiplication operators on Sobolev disk algebra (Q880858)

Let \({\mathbb D}\) be the complex unit disk and let \(W^{2,2}(\mathbb D)\) denote the Sobolev space of functions \(f\in L^2({\mathbb D},dm)\) such that the distributional partial derivatives of first and second order are also in \(L^2({\mathbb D},dm)\). The Sobolev disk algebra, denoted by \(R(\mathbb D)\), is the closure of polynomials in \(W^{2,2}(\mathbb D)\). In the paper under review, the authors study the Sobolev disk algebra and explore several elementary properties of it, as well as some spectral aspects of the multiplication operator on \(R(\mathbb D)\). In addition, the authors characterize the commutant algebra of the multiplication operator \(M_f\) on \(R(\mathbb D)\) and prove that this algebra is commutative if and only if \(M_f^*\in B_1(\mathbb D)\), that is, the adjoint of the multiplication operator is a Cowen--Douglas operator of index~1.