James Rovnyak

Generalized Schur functions are scalar- or operator-valued holomorphic functions such that certain associated kernels have a finite number of negative squares. This book develops the realization theory of such functions as characteristic functions of coisometric, isometric, and unitary colligations whose state spaces are reproducing kernel Pontryagin spaces. This provides a modern system theory setting for the relationship between invariant subspaces and factorization, operator models, Krein-Langer factorizations, and other topics. The book is intended for students and researchers in mathematics and engineering. An introductory chapter supplies background material, including reproducing kernel Pontryagin spaces, complementary spaces in the sense of de Branges, and a key result on defining operators as closures of linear relations. The presentation is self-contained and streamlined so that the indefinite case is handled completely parallel to the definite case.

These notes are based on lectures given at the University of Virginia over the past twenty years. They may be viewed as a course in function theory for nonspecialists. Chapters 1-6 give the function-theoretic background to Hardy Classes and Operator Theory, Oxford Mathematical Monographs, Oxford University Press, New York, 1985. These chapters were written first, and they were origi­ nally intended to be a part of that book. Half-plane function theory continues to be useful for applications and is a focal point in our account (Chapters 5 and 6). The theory of Hardy and Nevanlinna classes is derived from proper­ ties of harmonic majorants of subharmonic functions (Chapters 3 and 4). A selfcontained treatment of harmonic and subharmonic functions is included (Chapters 1 and 2). Chapters 7-9 present concepts from the theory of univalent functions and Loewner families leading to proofs of the Bieberbach, Robertson, and Milin conjectures. Their purpose is to make the work of de Branges accessible to students of operator theory. These chapters are by the second author. There is a high degree of independence in the chapters, allowing the material to be used in a variety of ways. For example, Chapters 5-6 can be studied alone by readers familiar with function theory on the unit disk. Chapters 7-9 have been used as the basis for a one-semester topics course.

Generalized Schur functions are scalar- or operator-valued holomorphic functions such that certain associated kernels have a finite number of negative squares. This book develops the realization theory of such functions as characteristic functions of coisometric, isometric, and unitary colligations whose state spaces are reproduced kernal Pontryagin spaces. This provides a modern system theory setting for the relationship between invariant subspaces and factorization, operator models, Krein-Langer factorizations, and other topics. This text is intended for students and researchers in mathematics and engineering. An introductory chapter contains background material, including reproducing kernal Pontryagin spaces, complementary spaces in the sense of de Branges, and a result on defining operators as closures of linear relations. The presentation is such that the indefinite case is handled parallel to the definite case.

These notes are based on lectures given at the University of Virginia over the past twenty years. They may be viewed as a course in function theory for nonspecialists. Chapters 1-6 give the function-theoretic background to Hardy Classes and Operator Theory, Oxford Mathematical Monographs, Oxford University Press, New York, 1985. These chapters were written first, and they were origi­ nally intended to be a part of that book. Half-plane function theory continues to be useful for applications and is a focal point in our account (Chapters 5 and 6). The theory of Hardy and Nevanlinna classes is derived from proper­ ties of harmonic majorants of subharmonic functions (Chapters 3 and 4). A selfcontained treatment of harmonic and subharmonic functions is included (Chapters 1 and 2). Chapters 7-9 present concepts from the theory of univalent functions and Loewner families leading to proofs of the Bieberbach, Robertson, and Milin conjectures. Their purpose is to make the work of de Branges accessible to students of operator theory. These chapters are by the second author. There is a high degree of independence in the chapters, allowing the material to be used in a variety of ways. For example, Chapters 5-6 can be studied alone by readers familiar with function theory on the unit disk. Chapters 7-9 have been used as the basis for a one-semester topics course.