On Riesz and inessential operators (Q915092)

For a bounded linear operator T on a complex Banach space E the following assertions are proved to be equivalent: (a) T is inessential; that is, I-ST has an invertible image in the Calkin algebra for all \(S\in L(E).\) (b) The closure of the range of T-S is finite codimensional for all Fredholm operators \(S\in L(E).\) (b') The range of T-S is finite codimensional for all Fredholm operators \(S\in L(E).\) (c) The closure of the range of I-AU is finite codimensional for all \(U\in L(E).\) (c') The range of I-TU is finite codimensional for all \(U\in L(E).\) It is also shown that the collection of all inessential operators forms the unique maximal ideal of the collection \(\Omega_ 2(E)\) of all operators \(A\in L(E)\) such that the operators induced by A on E/M are not surjective for all finite codimensional invariant subspaces M of A. Also, the Jacobson radical of L(E) is characterized as the class of all \(A\in \Omega_ 2(E)\) such that \(\sigma\) (A) is a finite set or a sequence converging to zero.