Low rank compact operators and Tingley's problem

TL;DR

This paper solves Tingley's problem for weakly compact JB*-triples by proving that every surjective isometry between their unit spheres extends to a surjective real linear isometry, with applications to compact operator spaces.

Contribution

It provides a complete solution to Tingley's problem in the setting of weakly compact JB*-triples, including spaces of compact operators between Hilbert spaces.

Findings

Every surjective isometry on the unit sphere extends to a real linear isometry.

The result applies to spaces of compact operators between Hilbert spaces.

It characterizes the structure of isometries in this setting.

Abstract

Let $E$ and $B$ be arbitrary weakly compact JB$^*$-triples whose unit spheres are denoted by $S(E)$ and $S(B)$, respectively. We prove that every surjective isometry $f: S(E) \to S(B)$ admits an extension to a surjective real linear isometry $T: E\to B$. This is a complete solution to Tingley's problem in the setting of weakly compact JB$^*$-triples. Among the consequences, we show that if $K(H,K)$ denotes the space of compact operators between arbitrary complex Hilbert spaces $H$ and $K$, then every surjective isometry $f: S(K(H,K)) \to S(K(H,K))$ admits an extension to a surjective real linear isometry $T: K(H,K)\to K(H,K)$.