Function theory on the annulus in the dp-norm

TL;DR

This paper develops a new Pick interpolation theorem for a class of holomorphic functions on an annulus with a specific dp-norm, extending classical results to a multiply-connected domain using realization theory.

Contribution

It introduces the dp-Schur class and DP Szegő kernels, providing a novel Pick interpolation criterion for functions on an annulus with dp-norm constraints.

Findings

Established a Pick interpolation theorem for the dp-Schur class.

Defined DP Szegő kernels and characterized solvability of interpolation problems.

Proved that solutions to the interpolation problem are rational functions.

Abstract

In this paper we shall use realization theory to prove new results about a class of holomorphic functions on an annulus \[R_\delta \stackrel{\rm def}{=} \{z \in \mathbb{C}: \delta <|z|<1\},\] where $0<\delta<1$. The class of functions in question arises in the early work of R. G. Douglas and V. I. Paulsen on the rational dilation of a Hilbert space operator $T$ to a normal operator with spectrum in $\partial R_\delta$. Their work suggested the following norm $\|\cdot\|_{\mathrm{dp}}$ on the space $\mathrm{Hol}(R_\delta)$ of holomorphic functions on $R_\delta$, \[ \|\phi\|_{\mathrm{dp}} \stackrel{\rm def}{=} \sup\{ \|\phi(T)\|: \|T\|\leq 1, \|T^{-1} \|\leq 1/\delta \ \text{and} \ \sigma(T)\subseteq R_\delta\}.\] By analogy with the classical Schur class of holomorphic functions $\mathcal{S} $ with supremum norm at most $1$ on the disc $\mathbb{D}$, it is natural to consider the dp-Schur class $\mathcal{S}_\mathrm{dp}$ of holomorphic functions of dp-norm at most $1$ on $R_\delta$. Our central result is a Pick interpolation theorem for functions in $\mathcal{S}_\mathrm{dp}$ that is analogous to Abrahamse's Interpolation Theorem for bounded holomorphic functions on a multiply-connected domain. For a tuple $\lambda=(\lambda_1,\dots,\lambda_n)$ of distinct interpolation nodes in $R_\delta$, we introduce a special set $\mathcal{G}_{\mathrm {dp}}(\lambda)$ of positive definite $n\times n$ matrices, which we call DP Szeg\H{o} kernels. The DP Pick problem $\lambda_j \mapsto z_j, j=1,\dots,n$, is shown to be solvable if and only if, \[ [(1-\bar z_i z_j)g_{ij}] \ge 0 \; \text{ for all}\; g \in \mathcal{G}_{\mathrm {dp}} (\lambda).\] We prove further that a solvable DP Pick problem has a solution which is a rational function.