This monograph offers an introduction to finite Blaschke products and their connections to complex analysis, linear algebra, operator theory, matrix analysis, and other fields. Old favorites such as the Caratheodory approximation and the Pick interpolation theorems are featured, as are many topics that have never received a modern treatment, such as the Bohr radius and Ritt's theorem on decomposability. Deep connections to hyperbolic geometry are explored, as are the mapping properties, zeros, residues, and critical points of finite Blaschke products. In addition, model spaces, rational functions with real boundary values, spectral mapping properties of the numerical range, and the Darlington synthesis problem from electrical engineering are also covered. Topics are carefully discussed, and numerous examples and illustrations highlight crucial ideas. While thorough explanations allow the reader to appreciate the beauty of the subject, relevant exercises following each chapter improve technical fluency with the material. With much of the material previously scattered throughout mathematical history, this book presents a cohesive, comprehensive and modern exposition accessible to undergraduate students, graduate students, and researchers who have familiarity with complex analysis.

If H is a Hilbert space and T : H ? H is a continous linear operator, a natural question to ask is: What are the closed subspaces M of H for which T M ? M? Of course the famous invariant subspace problem asks whether or not T has any non-trivial invariant subspaces. This monograph is part of a long line of study of the invariant subspaces of the operator T = M (multiplication by the independent variable z, i. e. , M f = zf )on a z z Hilbert space of analytic functions on a bounded domain G in C. The characterization of these M -invariant subspaces is particularly interesting since it entails both the properties z of the functions inside the domain G, their zero sets for example, as well as the behavior of the functions near the boundary of G. The operator M is not only interesting in its z own right but often serves as a model operator for certain classes of linear operators. By this we mean that given an operator T on H with certain properties (certain subnormal operators or two-isometric operators with the right spectral properties, etc. ), there is a Hilbert space of analytic functions on a domain G for which T is unitarity equivalent to M .

The classical $\ell^{p}$ sequence spaces have been a mainstay in Banach spaces. This book reviews some of the foundational results in this area (the basic inequalities, duality, convexity, geometry) as well as connects them to the function theory (boundary growth conditions, zero sets, extremal functions, multipliers, operator theory) of the associated spaces $\ell^{p}_{A}$ of analytic functions whose Taylor coefficients belong to $\ell^p$. Relations between the Banach space $\ell^p$ and its associated function space are uncovered using tools from Banach space geometry, including Birkhoff-James orthogonality and the resulting Pythagorean inequalities. The authors survey the literature on all of this material, including a discussion of the multipliers of $\ell^{p}_{A}$ and a discussion of the Wiener algebra $\ell^{1}_{A}$. Except for some basic measure theory, functional analysis, and complex analysis, which the reader is expected to know, the material in this book is self-contained and detailed proofs of nearly all the results are given. Each chapter concludes with some end notes that give proper references, historical background, and avenues for further exploration.

Aimed at graduate students, this textbook provides an accessible and comprehensive introduction to operator theory. Rather than discuss the subject in the abstract, this textbook covers the subject through twenty examples of a wide variety of operators, discussing the norm, spectrum, commutant, invariant subspaces, and interesting properties of each operator. The text is supplemented by over 600 end-of-chapter exercises, designed to help the reader master the topics covered in the chapter, as well as providing an opportunity to further explore the vast operator theory literature. Each chapter also contains well-researched historical facts which place each chapter within the broader context of the development of the field as a whole.

Aimed at graduate students, this textbook provides an accessible and comprehensive introduction to operator theory. Rather than discuss the subject in the abstract, this textbook covers the subject through twenty examples of a wide variety of operators, discussing the norm, spectrum, commutant, invariant subspaces, and interesting properties of each operator. The text is supplemented by over 600 end-of-chapter exercises, designed to help the reader master the topics covered in the chapter, as well as providing an opportunity to further explore the vast operator theory literature. Each chapter also contains well-researched historical facts which place each chapter within the broader context of the development of the field as a whole.

The study of model spaces, the closed invariant subspaces of the backward shift operator, is a vast area of research with connections to complex analysis, operator theory and functional analysis. This self-contained text is the ideal introduction for newcomers to the field. It sets out the basic ideas and quickly takes the reader through the history of the subject before ending up at the frontier of mathematical analysis. Open questions point to potential areas of future research, offering plenty of inspiration to graduate students wishing to advance further.

Shift operators on Hilbert spaces of analytic functions play an important role in the study of bounded linear operators on Hilbert spaces since they often serve as models for various classes of linear operators. For example, 'parts' of direct sums of the backward shift operator on the classical Hardy space H2 model certain types of contraction operators and potentially have connections to understanding the invariant subspaces of a general linear operator. This book is a thorough treatment of the characterization of the backward shift invariant subspaces of the well-known Hardy spaces H{p}. The characterization of the backward shift invariant subspaces of H{p} for 1 infinity was done in a 1970 paper of R. Douglas, H. S. Shapiro, and A. Shields, and the case 0p\le 1 was done in a 1979 paper of A. B. Aleksandrov which is not well known in the West.This material is pulled together in this single volume and includes all the necessary background material needed to understand (especially for the 0 1 case) the proofs of these results. Several proofs of the Douglas-Shapiro-Shields result are provided so readers can get acquainted with different operator theory and theory techniques: applications of these proofs are also provided for understanding the backward shift operator on various other spaces of analytic functions. The results are thoroughly examined. Other features of the volume include a description of applications to the spectral properties of the backward shift operator and a treatment of some general real-variable techniques that are not taught in standard graduate seminars. The book includes references to works by Duren, Garnett, and Stein for proofs and a bibliography for further exploration in the areas of operator theory and functional analysis.