On certain minimal entropy extensions appearing in dilation theory. I (Q921514)

Let T and \(T'\) be contractions on Hilbert spaces H and \(H'\), respectively and let U and \(U'\) be the minimal unitary dilations of T and \(T'\) to K and \(K'\), respectively. Recall that \(K=(...\oplus D_{T^*}\oplus D_{T^*})\oplus H\oplus (D_ T\oplus D_ T\oplus...)\) and similarly for \(K'\). Set \[ T_ 1=\left[ \begin{matrix} T\\ (I-T^*T)^{1/2}\end{matrix} \begin{matrix} 0\\ 0\end{matrix} \right],\quad H_ 1=H\oplus D_ T\text{ and } K_+=H\oplus (D_ T\oplus D_ T\oplus...) \] and similarly for \(T'_ 1\), \(H'_ 1\) and \(K'_+\). Denote by P and \(P'\) the orthogonal projections from \(H_ 1\) and \(H'_ 1\) onto H and \(H'\), respectively. Let A be a contraction that satisfies \(AT=T'A\) and let \(A_ 1\) be a contraction that satisfies \(A_ 1T_ 1=T'_ 1A_ 1\) and \(P'A_ 1=AP\). Any contractive intertwining dilation \(B_+: K_+\to K'_+\) of \(A_ 1\) has a contractive extension B: \(K\to K'\) satisfying \(BU-U'B\). The main result of this paper is to prove that, under some further assumptions, B is a coisometry or an isometry. The uniqueness of the extension B is also considered. An application of this result to the classical Carathéodory extension problem is given.