A few years aga the authors started a project of a book on the theory of systems of one-dimensional singular integral equa tions which was planned as a continuation of the monograph by one of the authors and N. Ya. Krupnik ~~ concerning scalar equa tions. This set of notes was initiated as a chapter dealing with problems of factorization of matrix functions vis-a-vis appli cations to systems of singular integral equations. Working systematically onthischapter and adding along the way new points of view, new proofs and results, we finally saw that the material connected with factorizations is of independent interest and we decided to publish this chapter as aseparate volume. In fact, because of recent activity, the amount of material was quite large and we quickly learned that we cannot cover all of the results in complete detail. We have tried to include a represen tative variety of all kinds of methods, techniques,results and applications. Apart of the current work exposes results from the Russian literature which have never appeared in English translation. We have also decided to reflect some of the recent results which make interesting connections between factorization of matrix functions and systems theory. The field remains very active and many results and connec tions are still not weIl understood. These notes should be viewed as a stepping stone to further development. The authors hope that sometime they will return to complete their original plan.

One of the basic interpolation problems from our point of view is the problem of building a scalar rational function if its poles and zeros with their multiplicities are given. If one assurnes that the function does not have a pole or a zero at infinity, the formula which solves this problem is (1) where Zl , " " Z/ are the given zeros with given multiplicates nl, " " n / and Wb" " W are the given p poles with given multiplicities ml, . . . ,m , and a is an arbitrary nonzero number. p An obvious necessary and sufficient condition for solvability of this simplest Interpolation pr- lern is that Zj :f: wk(1~ j ~ 1, 1~ k~ p) and nl +. . . +n/ = ml +. . . +m ' p The second problem of interpolation in which we are interested is to build a rational matrix function via its zeros which on the imaginary line has modulus 1. In the case the function is scalar, the formula which solves this problem is a Blaschke product, namely z z. )mi n u(z) = all = l~ (2) J ( Z+ Zj where [o] = 1, and the zj's are the given zeros with given multiplicities mj. Here the necessary and sufficient condition for existence of such u(z) is that zp :f: - Zq for 1~ ]1, q~ n.

This paper is a largely expository account of the theory of p x p matrix polyno mials associated with Hermitian block Toeplitz matrices and some related problems of interpolation and extension. Perhaps the main novelty is the use of reproducing kernel Pontryagin spaces to develop parts of the theory in what hopefully the reader will regard as a reasonably lucid way. The topics under discussion are presented in a series of short sections, the headings of which give a pretty good idea of the overall contents of the paper. The theory is a rich one and the present paper in spite of its length is far from complete. The author hopes to fill in some of the gaps in future publications. The story begins with a given sequence h_n" ... , hn of p x p matrices with h-i = hj for j = 0, ... , n. We let k = O, ... ,n, (1.1) denote the Hermitian block Toeplitz matrix based on ho, ... , hk and shall denote its 1 inverse H k by (k)] k [ r = .. k = O, ... ,n, (1.2) k II} . '-0 ' I- whenever Hk is invertible.

This two-volume work presents a systematic theoretical and computational study of several types of generalizations of separable matrices. The main attention is paid to fast algorithms (many of linear complexity) for matrices in semiseparable, quasiseparable, band and companion form. The work is focused on algorithms of multiplication, inversion and description of eigenstructure and includes a large number of illustrative examples throughout the different chapters. The first volume consists of four parts. The first part is of a mainly theoretical character introducing and studying the quasiseparable and semiseparable representations of matrices and minimal rank completion problems. Three further completions are treated in the second part. The first applications of the quasiseparable and semiseparable structure are included in the third part where the interplay between the quasiseparable structure and discrete time varying linear systems with boundary conditions play an essential role. The fourth part contains factorization and inversion fast algorithms for matrices via quasiseparable and semiseparable structure. The work is based mostly on results obtained by the authors and their coauthors. Due to its many significant applications and the accessible style the text will be useful to engineers, scientists, numerical analysts, computer scientists and mathematicians alike.

This two-volume work presents a systematic theoretical and computational study of several types of generalizations of separable matrices. The main attention is paid to fast algorithms (many of linear complexity) for matrices in semiseparable, quasiseparable, band and companion form. The work is focused on algorithms of multiplication, inversion and description of eigenstructure and includes a large number of illustrative examples throughout the different chapters.

The second volume, consisting of four parts, addresses the eigenvalue problem for matrices with quasiseparable structure and applications to the polynomial root finding problem. In the first part the properties of the characteristic polynomials of principal leading submatrices, the structure of eigenspaces and the basic methods to compute eigenvalues are studied in detail for matrices with quasiseparable representation of the first order. The second part is devoted to the divide and conquer method, with the main algorithms being derived also for matrices with quasiseparable representation of order one. The QR iteration method for some classes of matrices with quasiseparable of any order representations is studied in the third part. This method is then used in the last part in order to get a fast solver for the polynomial root finding problem. The work is based mostly on results obtained by the authors and their coauthors. Due to its many significant applications and the accessible style the text will be useful to engineers, scientists, numerical analysts, computer scientists and mathematicians alike.

This book aims to present the theory of interpolation for rational matrix functions as a recently matured independent mathematical subject with its own problems, methods and applications. The authors decided to start working on this book during the regional CBMS conference in Lincoln, Nebraska organized by F. Gilfeather and D. Larson. The principal lecturer, J. William Helton, presented ten lectures on operator and systems theory and the interplay between them. The conference was very stimulating and helped us to decide that the time was ripe for a book on interpolation for matrix valued functions (both rational and non-rational). When the work started and the first partial draft of the book was ready it became clear that the topic is vast and that the rational case by itself with its applications is already enough material for an interesting book. In the process of writing the book, methods for the rational case were developed and refined. As a result we are now able to present the rational case as an independent theory. After two years a major part of the first draft was prepared. Then a long period of revising the original draft and introducing recently acquired results and methods followed. There followed a period of polishing and of 25 chapters and the appendix commuting at various times somewhere between Williamsburg, Blacksburg, Tel Aviv, College Park and Amsterdam (sometimes with one or two of the authors).

This volume contains the proceedings of the Workshop on app1ications of linear operator theory to systems and networks, which was held at the Weizmann Institute of Science in the third week of June, 19S3,just be fore the MTNS Conference in Beersheva. For a 10ng time these subjects were studied indepen- dent1y by mathematica1 ana1ysts and e1ectrica1 engineers. Never- the1ess, in spite of the lack of communication, these two groups often deve10ped parallel theories, though in different languages, at different levels of genera1ity and typica11y quite different motivations. In the last severa1 years each side has become aware of the work of the other and there is a seeming1y ever- increasing invo1vement of the abstract theories of factorization, extension and interpolation of operators (and operator/matrix va1ued functions) to the design and analysis of systems and net- works. Moreover, the problems encountered in e1ectrica1 engineering have genera ted new mathematica1 problems, new approaches, and usefu1 new formu1ations. The papers contained in this volume constitute a more than representative se1ection of the presented talks and dis- cussion at the workshop, and hopefu11y will also serve to give a reasonably accurate picture of the problems which are under active study today and the techniques which are used to deal with them.

The Workshop on Operator Theory and Boundary Eigenvalue Problems was held at the Technical University, Vienna, Austria, July 27 to 30, 1993. It was the seventh workshop in the series of IWOTA (International Workshops on Operator Theory and Applications). The main topics at the workshop were interpolation problems and analytic matrix functions, operator theory in spaces with indefinite scalar products, boundary value problems for differential and functional-differential equations and systems theory and control. The workshop covered different aspects, starting with abstract operator theory up to contrete applications. The papers in these proceedings provide an accurate cross section of the lectures presented at the workshop. This book will be of interest to a wide group of pure and applied mathematicians.

This volume is dedicated to Harold Widom, a distinguished mathematician and renowned expert in the area of Toeplitz, Wiener-Hopf and pseudodifferential operators, on the occasion of his sixtieth birthday. The book opens with biographical material and a list of the mathematician's publications, this being followed by two papers based on Toeplitz lectures which he delivered at Tel Aviv University in March, 1993. The rest of the book consists of a selection of papers containing some recent achievements in the following areas: Szego-Widom asymptotic formulas for determinants of finite sections of Toeplitz matrices and their generalizations, the Fisher-Hartwig conjecture, random matrices, analysis of kernels of Toeplitz matrices, projectional methods and eigenvalue distribution for Toeplitz matrices, the Fredholm theory for convolution type operators, the Nehari interpolation problem with generalizations and applications, and Toeplitz-Hausdorff type theorems. The book will appeal to a wide audience of pure and applied mathematicians."

((keine o-Punkte, sondern 2 accents aigus auf dem o in Szokefalvi, s. auch Titel ))

In August 1999, an international conference was held in Szeged, Hungary, in honor of Bela Szokefalvi-Nagy, one of the founders and main contributors of modern operator theory. This volume contains some of the papers presented at the meeting, complemented by several papers of experts who were unable to attend. These 35 refereed articles report on recent and original results in various areas of operator theory and connected fields, many of them strongly related to contributions of Sz.-Nagy. The scientific part of the book is preceeded by fifty pages of biographical material, including several photos."

These two volumes constitute texts for graduate courses in linear operator theory. The reader is assumed to have a knowledge of both complex analysis and the first elements of operator theory. The texts are intended to concisely present a variety of classes of linear operators, each with its own character, theory, techniques and tools. For each of the classes, various differential and integral operators motivate or illustrate the main results. Although each class is treated seperately and the first impression may be that of many different theories, interconnections appear frequently and unexpectedly. The result is a beautiful, unified and powerful theory. The classes we have chosen are representatives of the principal important classes of operators, and we believe that these illustrate the richness of operator theory, both in its theoretical developments and in its applicants. Because we wanted the books to be of reasonable size, we were selective in the classes we chose and restricted our attention to the main features of the corresponding theories. However, these theories have been updated and enhanced by new developments, many of which appear here for the first time in an operator-theory text. In the selection of the material the taste and interest of the authors played an important role.

This volume is devoted to the life and work of the applied mathematician Professor Erhard Meister (1930-2001). He was a member of the editorial boards of this book series Operator The ory: Advances and Applications as well as of the journal Integral Equations and Operator Theory, both published by Birkhauser (now part of Springer-Verlag). Moreover he played a decisive role in the foundation of these two series by helping to establish contacts between Birkhauser and the founder and present chief editor of this book series after his emigration from Moldavia in 1974. The volume is divided into two parts. Part A contains reminiscences about the life of E. Meister including a short biography and an exposition of his professional work. Part B displays the wide range of his scientific interests through eighteen original papers contributed by authors with close scientific and personal relations to E. Meister. We hope that a great part of the numerous features of his life and work can be re-discovered from this book."

Our goal is to find Grabner bases for polynomials in four different sets of expressions: 1 x- , (1 - x)-1 (RESOL) X, 1 x- (1 - xy)-1 (EB) X, , y-1, (1-yx)-1 y, (1_y)-1 (1-x)-1 (preNF) (EB) plus and (1 - xy)1/2 (1 - yx )1/2 (NF) (preNF) plus and Most formulas in the theory of the Nagy-Foias operator model [NF] are polynomials in these expressions where x = T and y = T*. Complicated polynomials can often be simplified by applying "replacement rules". For example, the polynomial (1 - xy)-2 - 2xy(1-xy)-2 + xy2 (1 - xy)-2 -1 simplifies to O. This can be seen by three applications of the replacement rule (1-xy) -1 xy -t (1 - xy)-1 -1 which is true because of the definition of (1-xy)-1. A replacement rule consists of a left hand side (LHS) and a right hand side (RHS). The LHS will always be a monomial. The RHS will be a polynomial whose terms are "simpler" (in a sense to be made precise) than the LHS. An expression is reduced by repeatedly replacing any occurrence of a LHS by the corresponding RHS. The monomials will be well-ordered, so the reduction procedure will terminate after finitely many steps. Our aim is to provide a list of substitution rules for the classes of expressions above. These rules, when implemented on a computer, provide an efficient automatic simplification process. We discuss and define the ordering on monomials later.

This monograph is the second volume of a graduate text book on the modern theory of linear one-dimensional singular integral equations. Both volumes may be regarded as unique graduate text books. Singular integral equations attract more and more attention since this class of equations appears in numerous applications, and also because they form one of the few classes of equations which can be solved explicitly. The present book is to a great extent based upon material contained in the second part of the authors' monograph 6] which appeared in 1973 in Russian, and in 1979 in German translation. The present text includes a large number of additions and complementary material, essentially changing the character, structure and contents of the book, and making it accessible to a wider audience. Our main subject in the first volume was the case of closed curves and continuous coeffi cients. Here, in the second volume, we turn to general curves and discontinuous coefficients. We are deeply grateful to the editor Professor G. Heinig, to the translator Dr. S. Roeh, and to the typist Mr. G. Lillack, for their patient work. The authors Ramat-Aviv, Ramat-Gan, May 26, 1991 11 Introduction This book is the second volume of an introduction to the theory of linear one-dimensional singular integral operators. The main topics of both parts of the book are the invertibility and Fredholmness of these operators. Special attention is paid to inversion methods."

This book is dedicated to a theory of traces and determinants on embedded algebras of linear operators, where the trace and determinant are extended from finite rank operators by a limit process. The self-contained material should appeal to a wide group of mathematicians and engineers, and is suitable for teaching.

A collection of papers on different aspects of operator theory and complex analysis, covering the recent achievements of the Odessa-Kharkov school, where Potapov was very active. The book appeals to a wide group of mathematicians and engineers, and much of the material can be used for advanced courses and seminars.

This volume is based on the proceedings of the Toeplitz Lectures 1999 and of the Workshop in Operator Theory held in March 1999 at Tel-Aviv University and at the Weizmann Institute of Science. The workshop was held on the occasion of the 60th birthday of Harry Dym, and the Toeplitz lecturers were Harry Dym and Jim Rovnyak. The papers in the volume reflect Harry's influence on the field of operator theory and its applications through his insights, his writings, and his personality. The volume begins with an autobiographical sketch, followed by the list ofpublications ofHarry Dym and the paper ofIsrael Gohberg: On Joint Work with Harry Dym. The following paper by Jim Rovnyak: Methods of Krdn Space Operator The- ory, is based on his Toeplitz lectures. It gives a survey ofold and recents methods of KreIn space operator theory along with examples from function theory, espe- cially substitution operators on indefinite Dirichlet spaces and their relation to coefficient problems for univalent functions, an idea pioneered by 1. de Branges and underlying his proof of the Bieberbach conjecture (see [9]). The remaining papers (arranged in the alphabetical order) can be divided into the following categories. Schur analysis and interpolation In Notes on Interpolation in the Generalized Schur Class. I, D. Alpay, T. Con- stantinescu, A. Dijksma, and J. Rovnyak use realization theory for operator colli- gations in Pontryagin spaces to study interpolation and factorization problems in generalized Schur classes.

This volume is dedicated to Tsuyoshi Ando, a foremost expert in operator theory, matrix theory, complex analysis, and their applications, on the occasion of his 60th birthday. The book opens with his biography and list of publications. It contains a selection of papers covering a broad spectrum of topics ranging from abstract operator theory to various concrete problems and applications. The majority of the papers deal with topics in modern operator theory and its applications. This volume also contains papers on interpolation and completion problems, factorization problems and problems connected with complex analysis. The book will appeal to a wide audience of pure and applied mathematicians.

In September 1998, during the 'International Workshop on Analysis and Vibrat ing Systems' held in Canmore, Alberta, Canada, it was decided by a group of participants to honour Peter Lancaster on the occasion of his 70th birthday with a volume in the series 'Operator Theory: Advances and Applications'. Friends and colleagues responded enthusiastically to this proposal and within a short time we put together the volume which is now presented to the reader. Regarding accep tance of papers we followed the usual rules of the journal 'Integral Equations and Operator Theory'. The papers are dedicated to different problems in matrix and operator theory, especially to the areas in which Peter contributed so richly. At our request, Peter agreed to write an autobiographical paper, which appears at the beginning of the volume. It continues with the list of Peter's publications. We believe that this volume will pay tribute to Peter on his outstanding achievements in different areas of mathematics. 1. Gohberg, H. Langer P ter Lancast r *1929 Operator Theory: Advances and Applications, Vol. 130, 1- 7 (c) 2001 Birkhiiuser Verlag Basel/Switzerland My Life and Mathematics Peter Lancaster I was born in Appleby, a small county town in the north of England, on November 14th, 1929. I had two older brothers and was to have one younger sister. My family moved around the north of England as my father's work in an insurance company required."

On November 12-14, 1997 a workshop was held at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam on the occasion of the sixtieth birthday ofM. A. Kaashoek. The present volume contains the proceedings of this workshop. The workshop was attended by 44 participants from all over the world: partici pants came from Austria, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Italy, The Netherlands, South Africa, Switzerland, Ukraine and the USA. The atmosphere at the workshop was very warm and friendly. There where 21 plenary lectures, and each lecture was followed by a lively discussion. The workshop was supported by: the Vakgroep Wiskunde of the Vrije Univer siteit, the department of Mathematics and Computer Science of the Vrije Univer siteit, the Stichting VU Computer Science & Mathematics Research Centre, the Thomas Stieltjes Institute for Mathematics, and the department of Economics of the Erasmus University Rotterdam. The organizers would like to take this opportunity to express their gratitude for the support. Without it the workshop would not have been so successful as it was. Table of Contents Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v Photograph of M. A. Kaashoek . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii Curriculum Vitae of M. A. Kaashoek . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xv List of Publications of M. A. Kaashoek . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xix l. Gohberg Opening Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxxi H. Bart, A. C. M. Ran and H. I. Woerdeman Personal Reminiscences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxxv V. Adamyan and R. Mennicken On the Separation of Certain Spectral Components of Selfadjoint Operator Matrices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 2. Conditions for the Separation of Spectral Components . . . . . . . 4 3. Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ."