Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2022 / iii / Paper 106 / 1

For an element $x$ of a unital complex Banach algebra $A$, its spectrum of an element isIf $|\lambda |>\Vert x\Vert$, the Neumann seriesconverges, so the spectrum is bounded. If ${\lambda }_0$ is in the resolvent set, thenis invertible for $\lambda$ sufficiently close to ${\lambda }_0$, again by a Neumann series. Thus the resolvent is open and the spectrum is closed, hence compact.

If the spectrum were empty, the resolvent $R(\lambda )=(\lambda 1-x{)}^{-1}$ would be an entire Banach-space-valued function and would tend to zero at infinity. For every $f\in A^{\ast }$, the scalar entire function $f(R(\lambda ))$ would be bounded and therefore constant by Liouville theorem. It would be zero because of the limit at infinity. The Hahn-Banach theorem would then force $R(\lambda )=0$, contradicting $(\lambda 1-x)R(\lambda )=1$. Therefore ${\sigma }_A(x)$ is nonempty.

Now let $B\subseteq A$ be a closed unital subalgebra containing $x$. Invertibility in $B$ implies invertibility in $A$, soOn each connected component of $\mathbb{C}\setminus {\sigma }_A(x)$, either the resolvent belongs to $B$ everywhere or nowhere. Indeed, membership holds on a neighbourhood of any one such point by its local Neumann expansion, and the same argument makes the set of such points relatively closed by taking limits in the closed subalgebra $B$. The unbounded component belongs to the first case because the geometric resolvent series lies in $B$ for large $|\lambda |$. ConsequentlyThis is the spectrum in a closed unital subalgebra theorem.

For the bilateral shift $T$ on ${\ell }^1(\mathbb{Z})$, both $T$ and $T^{-1}$ are isometries. The geometric-series argument applied to $T$ for $|\lambda |>1$ and to $T^{-1}$ for $|\lambda |<1$ givesFor $|\lambda |=1$, normalize the vector given by $x_n={\lambda }^{-n}$ on $-N\le n\le N$ and zero elsewhere. Only its two boundary coordinates contribute to $(T-\lambda I)x$, so the norm of that image tends to zero. Thus $T-\lambda I$ is not bounded below and cannot be invertible. Hence

The algebra generated by $T$ is the norm closure of polynomials in nonnegative powers of $T$. It does not contain $T^{-1}$: every $p(T)e_0$ is supported in nonnegative coordinates, whereas $T^{-1}{e}_0=e_{-1}$. Therefore $0\in {\sigma }_{\mathcal{A}}(T)$. The preceding hole theorem then fills the unique bounded component of $\mathbb{C}\setminus \mathbb{T}$, giving