Operator algebras of functions (Q971804)

The paper under review presents some very general theorems about operator algebras that are algebras of functions on sets, including theories of local algebras, residually finite-dimensional operator algebras and algebras that can be represented as the scalar multipliers of a vector-valued reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces. These theorems are further used to develop a quantized function theory for various domains that extends and unifies Agler's theory of commuting contractions and the Arveson-Drury-Popescu theory of commuting row contractions. The results that are obtained for the quantized function theory are analogous factorization theorems, that the algebras obtained are dual operator algebras and that, for many of the domains considered, the supremum over all commuting tuples of operators satisfying certain inequalities is obtained over all commuting tuples of matrices. The paper is very well written and provides countless examples to help the interested reader gain an understanding and intuition of the objects being studied. The authors also do a good job of putting their research in context of the larger mathematical literature. Finally, the authors point to other questions that would be interesting to answer.