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.

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.

R. S. PHILLIPS I am very gratified to have been asked to give this introductory talk for our honoured guest, Israel Gohberg. I should like to begin by spending a few minutes talking shop. One of the great tragedies of being a mathematician is that your papers are read so seldom. On the average ten people will read the introduction to a paper and perhaps two of these will actually study the paper. It's difficult to know how to deal with this problem. One strategy which will at least get you one more reader, is to collaborate with someone. I think Israel early on caught on to this, and I imagine that by this time most of the analysts in the world have collaborated with him. He continues relentlessly in this pursuit; he visits his neighbour Harry Dym at the Weizmann Institute regularly, he spends several months a year in Amsterdam working with Rien Kaashoek, several weeks in Maryland with Seymour Goldberg, a couple of weeks here in Calgary with Peter Lancaster, and on the rare occasions when he is in Tel Aviv, he takes care of his many students.

In this article we shall use two special classes of reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces (which originate in the work of de Branges [dB) and de Branges-Rovnyak [dBRl), respectively) to solve matrix versions of a number of classical interpolation problems. Enroute we shall reinterpret de Branges' characterization of the first of these spaces, when it is finite dimensional, in terms of matrix equations of the Liapunov and Stein type and shall subsequently draw some general conclusions on rational m x m matrix valued functions which are "J unitary" a.e. on either the circle or the line. We shall also make some connections with the notation of displacement rank which has been introduced and extensively studied by Kailath and a number of his colleagues as well as the one used by Heinig and Rost [HR). The first of the two classes of spaces alluded to above is distinguished by a reproducing kernel of the special form K (>.) = J - U(>')JU(w)* (Ll) w Pw(>') , in which J is a constant m x m signature matrix and U is an m x m J inner matrix valued function over ~+, where ~+ is equal to either the open unit disc ID or the open upper half plane (1)+ and Pw(>') is defined in the table below.

A comprehensive graduate textbook that introduces functional analysis with an emphasis on the theory of linear operators and its application to differential equations, integral equations, infinite systems of linear equations, approximation theory, and numerical analysis. As a textbook designed for senior undergraduate and graduate students, it begins with the geometry of Hilbert spaces and proceeds to the theory of linear operators on these spaces including Banach spaces. Presented as a natural continuation of linear algebra, the book provides a firm foundation in operator theory which is an essential part of mathematical training for students of mathematics, engineering, and other technical sciences.

rii application of linear operators on a Hilbert space. We begin with a chapter on the geometry of Hilbert space and then proceed to the spectral theory of compact self adjoint operators; operational calculus is next presented as a nat ural outgrowth of the spectral theory. The second part of the text concentrates on Banach spaces and linear operators acting on these spaces. It includes, for example, the three 'basic principles of linear analysis and the Riesz Fredholm theory of compact operators. Both parts contain plenty of applications. All chapters deal exclusively with linear problems, except for the last chapter which is an introduction to the theory of nonlinear operators. In addition to the standard topics in functional anal ysis, we have presented relatively recent results which appear, for example, in Chapter VII. In general, in writ ing this book, the authors were strongly influenced by re cent developments in operator theory which affected the choice of topics, proofs and exercises. One of the main features of this book is the large number of new exercises chosen to expand the reader's com prehension of the material, and to train him or her in the use of it. In the beginning portion of the book we offer a large selection of computational exercises; later, the proportion of exercises dealing with theoretical questions increases. We have, however, omitted exercises after Chap ters V, VII and XII due to the specialized nature of the subject matter."

In this article we shall use two special classes of reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces (which originate in the work of de Branges [dB) and de Branges-Rovnyak [dBRl), respectively) to solve matrix versions of a number of classical interpolation problems. Enroute we shall reinterpret de Branges' characterization of the first of these spaces, when it is finite dimensional, in terms of matrix equations of the Liapunov and Stein type and shall subsequently draw some general conclusions on rational m x m matrix valued functions which are "J unitary" a.e. on either the circle or the line. We shall also make some connections with the notation of displacement rank which has been introduced and extensively studied by Kailath and a number of his colleagues as well as the one used by Heinig and Rost [HR). The first of the two classes of spaces alluded to above is distinguished by a reproducing kernel of the special form K (>.) = J - U(>')JU(w)* (Ll) w Pw(>') , in which J is a constant m x m signature matrix and U is an m x m J inner matrix valued function over ~+, where ~+ is equal to either the open unit disc ID or the open upper half plane (1)+ and Pw(>') is defined in the table below.

R. S. PHILLIPS I am very gratified to have been asked to give this introductory talk for our honoured guest, Israel Gohberg. I should like to begin by spending a few minutes talking shop. One of the great tragedies of being a mathematician is that your papers are read so seldom. On the average ten people will read the introduction to a paper and perhaps two of these will actually study the paper. It's difficult to know how to deal with this problem. One strategy which will at least get you one more reader, is to collaborate with someone. I think Israel early on caught on to this, and I imagine that by this time most of the analysts in the world have collaborated with him. He continues relentlessly in this pursuit; he visits his neighbour Harry Dym at the Weizmann Institute regularly, he spends several months a year in Amsterdam working with Rien Kaashoek, several weeks in Maryland with Seymour Goldberg, a couple of weeks here in Calgary with Peter Lancaster, and on the rare occasions when he is in Tel Aviv, he takes care of his many students.

After the book "Basic Operator Theory" by Gohberg-Goldberg was pub lished, we, that is the present authors, intended to continue with another book which would show the readers the large variety of classes of operators and the important role they play in applications. The book was planned to be of modest size, but due to the profusion of results in this area of analysis, the number of topics grew larger than ex pected. Consequently, we decided to divide the material into two volumes - the first volume being presented now. During the past years, courses and seminars were given at our respective in stitutions based on parts of the texts. These were well received by the audience and enabled us to make appropriate choices for the topics and presentation for the two vol umes. We would like to thank G.J. Groenewald, A.B. Kuijper and A.C.M. Ran of the Vrije Universiteit at Amsterdam, who provided us with lists of remarks and corrections. We are now aware that the Basic Operator Theory book should be revised so that it may suitably fit in with our present volumes. This revision is planned to be the last step of an induction and not the first."

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.