J. London Math. Soc.

(2) 71 (2005) 467–480 e 2005 London Mathematical Society

C

doi:10.1112/S0024610704006180

COMPLEMENTED INVARIANT SUBSPACES

IN BERGMAN SPACES

BORIS KORENBLUM and KEHE ZHU

Abstract
It is shown that the invariant subspace of the Bergman space Ap of the unit disk, generated by
either an Ap -interpolating sequence or a singular inner function with a single point mass on the
unit circle, is complemented in Ap .

1. Introduction
Let D be the open unit disk in the complex plane C. For 0 < p < ∞ the Bergman
space Ap consists of analytic functions f in D such that


1/p
f p = |f (z)| dA(z)
p
< ∞,
D

where dA is area measure on C normalized so that the unit disk D has area 1. The
space of all bounded analytic functions in D will be denoted by H ∞ .
A closed subspace I of Ap is said to be invariant if hf ∈ I for all f ∈ I, where
h(z) = z is the identity function on D. It is easy to show that a closed subspace I
of Ap is invariant if and only if hf ∈ I for all f ∈ I and all polynomials h if and
only if hf ∈ I for all f ∈ I and all h ∈ H ∞ .
For any f ∈ Ap , the Ap -closure of the set of all polynomial multiples of f is
clearly an invariant subspace of Ap ; it is called the invariant subspace generated by
f and will be denoted by Ifp . In particular, if ϕ ∈ H ∞ , then Iϕp is well-defined for
all 0 < p < ∞ and is the Ap -closure of ϕAp .
A sequence Z = {an } of points in D is called an Ap zero set if there exists a
non-zero function f ∈ Ap such that f vanishes on Z, counting multiplicity. Every
Ap zero set Z gives rise to an invariant subspace IZp consisting of all functions in Ap
that vanish on Z, counting multiplicities again. It is known that IZp = IG p
, where G
p
is the extremal function of IZ ; see [4] for example.
We will consider a class of special Ap zero sets, namely, Ap interpolating
sequences. Recall that a sequence Z = {an } of distinct points in D is called Ap
interpolating if for every sequence {wn } of complex numbers satisfying

|wn |p (1 − |an |2 )2 < ∞
there exists a function f ∈ Ap such that f (an ) = wn for all n. Such sequences have
been geometrically characterized in [7].
In this paper we consider the following problem: when is an invariant subspace
I of Ap complemented?

Received 27 February 2004.

2000 Mathematics Subject Classification 47A15, 30D55 (primary), 30D50, 46E20 (secondary).

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 468 boris korenblum and kehe zhu
Recall that I is complemented in Ap if there exists another closed subspace X of
A such that Ap = I ⊕ X (direct sum). It is easy to see that a closed subspace I
p

of Ap is complemented if and only if there exists a bounded linear operator Q from

Ap onto I such that Q2 = Q. Such an operator Q is naturally called a projection
of Ap onto I. Note that the projection Q, and so the complemental subspace X, is
highly non-unique. When p = 2, every closed subspace I of A2 is complemented; and
among all the projections of A2 onto I, there exists a unique orthogonal projection.
In the case of Hardy spaces, which we denote by H p , of the unit disk, every
invariant subspace is complemented, at least when 1 < p < ∞. In fact, if I is an
invariant subspace of H p , then there exists an inner function ϕ such that I = ϕH p .
It follows from the M. Riesz theorem (see [2]) that the operator Q defined by


ϕ(z) ϕ(ζ)f (ζ)
Qf (z) = dζ
2πi |ζ|=1 ζ − z
is a bounded projection from H p onto I, provided that 1 < p < ∞. Note that the
operator Q is simply the orthogonal projection from H 2 onto ϕH 2 .
Our main results are the following.

Theorem A. Suppose that 0 < p < ∞ and Z is an Ap interpolating sequence.

Then the invariant subspace IZp is complemented in Ap .

Theorem B. Suppose that 1 < p < ∞ and 0 < σ < ∞. Then the invariant
subspace Iσp generated by the singular inner function
 
1+z
Sσ (z) = exp −σ
1−z
is complemented in Ap .

The case of invariant subspaces generated by Ap interpolating sequences is

relatively easy; it follows from the proof of the Seip characterization of Ap inter-
polating sequences.
For a finite sequence Z (with possible multiplicities), the orthogonal projection
from A2 onto IZ2 turns out to be a bounded projection from Ap onto IZp . This case
also follows from general functional analysis, because IZp has finite codimension in
Ap .
The case of invariant subspaces generated by inner functions with a single point
mass is more involved; we use what we call ‘oro-coordinates’ in the unit disk to
explicitly construct a bounded projection from Ap onto Iϕp .
Apparently, this paper poses more questions than it answers. For example,
we do not even know if there exists any invariant subspace of Ap , p = 2, which
is not complemented. The ultimate problem here is, of course, to characterize
the complemented invariant subspaces of Ap , including the possibility that every
invariant subspace of Ap is complemented.

2. Spaces generated by zero sets

To illustrate the notion of a complemented invariant subspace here, consider the
case where the zero set Z has only one simple zero at a ∈ D. It is obvious that the

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 complemented invariant subspaces in bergman spaces 469
decomposition
f = (f − f (a)) + f (a)

induces a direct sum decomposition of Ap , namely,

Ap = IZp ⊕ C.

Slightly more general is the case when Z consists of a single zero at a ∈ D of

multiplicity n. Then the decomposition

f = (f − fn ) + fn ,

where fn is the Taylor polynomial of f at a of order n − 1, gives rise to the splitting

Ap = IZp ⊕ Pn ,

where Pn is the space of all polynomials of order n or less. This clearly works for
all n and all p ∈ (0, ∞).
If Z is a finite sequence with possible multiplicities, the space IZp has finite
codimension in Ap , and it follows from general functional analysis that IZp is
complemented in Ap . The following two lemmas give a more constructive proof
of this fact.

Lemma 1. Suppose that Z consists of distinct points a1 , . . . , an . Then for any

a ∈ D the reproducing kernel of IZ2 at a is of the form

1  n
Ak
KZ (z, a) = − ,
(1 − za)2 (1 − zak )2
k=1

where A1 , . . . , An are constants chosen so that


n
Ak 1
=
(1 − am ak )2 (1 − am a)2
k=1

for m = 1, . . . , n.

Proof. The existence of the constants A1 , . . . , An follows from the well-known

fact that the matrix
 
1
(1 − am ak )2 n×n
is non-singular.
The function h(z) = KZ (z, a) defined above is clearly in A2 and vanishes at
a1 , . . . , an , and so belongs to IZ2 . For any f ∈ IZ2 , the reproducing property of the
Bergman kernel gives

n
f, h = f (a) − Ak f (ak ) = f (a).
k=1

By uniqueness, the function KZ (z, a) defined above is indeed the reproducing kernel
of IZ2 at a.

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 470 boris korenblum and kehe zhu
Lemma 2. Suppose that Z consists of distinct points a1 , . . . , an . Then the
reproducing kernel of IZ2 is of the form
1  ϕk (w)n
KZ (z, w) = − ,
(1 − zw)2 (1 − zak )2
k=1

where
KZk (z, ak )
ϕk (z) = , 1
k
n,
KZk (ak , ak )
and Zk = Z − {ak } for 1
k
n.

Proof. See [11].

Combining Lemmas 1 and 2 above, we see that if the finite zero set Z has simple
zeros at a1 , . . . , an , then
1 
n n
Akm
KZ (z, w) = − ,
(1 − zw)2 m=1
(1 − zak )2 (1 − a w)2
m
k=1

where Akm are constants. This representation can also be proved by induction and
a well-known recursion formula for the reproducing kernel of zero-based invariant
subspaces in A2 ; see [5, Section 3.2].

Theorem 3. Suppose that 0 < p < ∞. If Z is either finite (with possible

multiplicities) or Ap interpolating, then the space IZp is complemented in Ap .

Proof. First assume that Z consists of a finite number of distinct points,

a1 , . . . , an . Let QZ : A2 −→ IZ2 be the orthogonal projection. Then by Lemma 2
and the reproducing property of the Bergman kernel, we have

n
QZ f (z) = f (z) − f (ak )ϕk (z).
k=1

Since ϕk belongs to Ap for 1
k
n and 0 < p < ∞ (by Lemma 1), and since each
point-evaluation in D is a bounded linear functional on Ap , this formula clearly
defines a bounded linear operator QZ on Ap . The functions ϕk satisfy ϕk (ak ) = 1
and ϕk (am ) = 0 for all k and m with k = m. It follows that QZ f ∈ IZp for all f ∈ Ap
and QZ f = f for all f ∈ IZp , so QZ is a projection from Ap onto IZp .
If Z is finite but has zeros of higher multiplicity, then the formula for KZ (z, w)
not only involves the Bergman kernels at the points of Z but also their derivatives.
For example, if ak appears N times in Z, where N > 1, then the functions
1 z z N −1
, ,...,
(1 − zak ) (1 − zak )
2 3 (1 − zak )N +1
will show up in the formula for KZ (z, w), and accordingly, the values
f (ak ), f  (ak ), . . . , f (N −1) (ak )
will show up in the formula for QZ f , but it is clear that the resulting operator QZ
is still bounded on all Ap .
When Z = {an } is Ap interpolating, all the zeros are simple. Moreover, there
exists a sequence {ϕn } of functions in Ap satisfying the following conditions.

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 complemented invariant subspaces in bergman spaces 471
(1) ϕn (an ) = 1 for all n.
(2) ϕn (ak ) = 0 for all n and k with n = k.
(3) There exists a positive constant M such that whenever {wn } is a sequence
of complex numbers satisfying

|wn |p (1 − |an |2 )2 < ∞,
then the series

f (z) = wn ϕn (z)
converges in Ap and

f pp
M |wn |p (1 − |an |2 )2 .

See [5, p. 159] for the existence of such a sequence {ϕn }.

Now define an operator QZ on Ap as follows:

QZ f (z) = f (z) − f (an )ϕn (z), f ∈ Ap .
Since an Ap interpolating sequence is separated in the hyperbolic metric, there
exists a constant M1 > 0 such that


|f (an )|p (1 − |an |2 )2
M1 |f (z)|p dA(z)
D

for all f ∈ A . This along with property (3) above shows that QZ is a bounded
p

linear operator on Ap . Also, it is clear from properties (1) and (2) that QZ maps
Ap into IZp , and QZ leaves all functions in IZp fixed. In other words, QZ maps Ap
onto IZp and acts as the identity operator on IZp , so QZ is a bounded projection
from Ap onto IZp .

3. Oro-coordinates
For any r ∈ (0, ∞) the equation
1 − |z|2
=r
|1 − z|2
defines a circle Cr internally tangent to the unit circle at the point 1. In fact, the
above equation can easily be transformed to the standard form of a circle,
 2
 
z − r  = 1
.
 1 + r (1 + r)2
Such circles are called orocycles; see [3].
As r runs from 0 to ∞, the orocycles Cr non-overlappingly fill up the whole disk
D. Since the orocycle Cr has Euclidean center at r/(1 + r) and Euclidean radius
1/(1 + r), we can parametrize the unit disk as follows,
r 1 iθ
z = z(r, θ) = + e , 0
r < ∞, 0
θ
2π.
1+r 1+r
This parametrization will be called the oro-coordinates of D.
Calculating the real Jacobian of the parametrization of D induced by oro-
coordinates, we arrive at the following change of variables formula in the unit disk.

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 472 boris korenblum and kehe zhu
Lemma 4. Suppose that g is Lebesgue measurable on D. If g is non-negative or
belongs to L1 (D, dA), then




1 ∞ 2π 1 − cos θ
g(z) dA(z) = g(r, θ) dr dθ,
D π 0 0 (1 + r)3
where g(r, θ) = g(z(r, θ)) is the function g in oro-coordinates.

Oro-coordinates are especially suitable for studying the singular inner functions
 
1+z
Sσ (z) = exp −σ ,
1−z
where σ is any positive constant (called the mass of Sσ ). By definition, the orocycles
Cr are the level curves of Sσ . More specifically, we have
|Sσ (z)| = e−σr , z = z(r, θ).
The function 1 − z also plays a special role in oro-coordinates, namely,
|1 − eiθ |
|1 − z| = , z = z(r, θ),
1+r
and
2(1 − cos θ)
|1 − z|2 = , z = z(r, θ).
(1 + r)2
The following formula converts the double integral in Lemma 4 to an iterated
integral, which will be more useful to us later on.

Lemma 5. Suppose that g is Lebesgue integrable on D. If g is non-negative or

belongs to L1 (D, dA), then




1 ∞
g(z) dA(z) = dr g(ζ)|1 − ζ|2 |dζ|.
D 2π 0 Cr

4. Ancillary results on Hardy spaces

Throughout this section we fix some r > 0 and, for 0 < p < ∞, let H p (Cr ) denote
the Hardy space of the orocycle Cr . The Hardy spaces of the unit disk D are simply
denoted by H p . The symbols z and w are reserved for complex numbers, while the
symbol x refers to a real number.
We begin with a Phragmén–Lindelöf type result. The books [6] and [8] contain
several classical Phragmén–Lindelöf theorems, one of which states that if f is
analytic on the closed region Ω between two straight lines making an angle π/α at
the origin and satisfies the conditions that |f (z)|
M on the lines and that
f (z) = O(exp(δ|z|α )), z ∈ Ω,
for every positive δ, then |f (z)|
M for all z ∈ Ω. See [8, Section 5.62].

Lemma 6. Let f be analytic on the closed unit disk D except at z = 1. Suppose

that |f (z)|
M for all |z| = 1 with z = 1,
lim sup |1 − z|2 log |f (z)|
0,
z→1

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 complemented invariant subspaces in bergman spaces 473
and
lim sup(1 − x) log |f (x)|
0.
x→1−

Then |f (z)|
M for all z ∈ D.

Proof. The fractional linear transformation

1+z
w=
1−z
maps the unit disk to the right half-plane and the unit circle to the imaginary axis.
It also transforms the function f to a function g on the right half-plane.
The assumptions on f translate into the following assumptions on g: |g(w)|
M
for all w on the imaginary axis,
log |g(w)|
lim sup
0,
w→∞ |w|2
where Re w > 0, and
log |g(x)|
lim sup
0.
x→+∞ x
Fix any small  > 0 and consider the function
g (w) = g(w)e−w
on the first quadrant Ω of the w-plane, which is between two straight lines making
an angle of π/2 at the origin.
It is easy to see that the assumptions on g imply that |g (w)|
M for all w on
the imaginary axis,
g (w) = O(exp(δ|w|2 )), w ∈ Ω,
where δ is any positive number, and
lim g (x) = 0.
x→+∞

In particular, the function g is also bounded on the positive real axis. Now using the
Phragmén–Lindelöf theorem quoted before this lemma (with α = 2) and mimicking
the proof in [8, bottom half of p. 178], we obtain |g (w)|
M for all w ∈ Ω. Letting
 → 0, we conclude that |g(w)|
M for all w ∈ Ω.
Exactly the same argument shows that |g(w)|
M for all w in the fourth quadrant
of the w-plane.

Note that Lemma 6 remains true if the unit circle is replaced by an orocycle at
the point 1. Besides its own intrinsic interest, Lemma 6 enables us to prove the
following criterion for a function in H p to belong to the invariant subspace Sσ H p .
A similar criterion for the Bergman spaces will be proved in the next section.

Proposition 7. Suppose that 0 < p < ∞ and 0 < σ < ∞. A function f ∈ H p

belongs to Sσ H p if and only if
lim sup(1 − x) log |f (x)|
−2σ.
x→1−

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 474 boris korenblum and kehe zhu
Proof. It is easy to see that
lim (1 − x) log |Sσ (x)| = −2σ.
x→1−

If g is an arbitrary function in H p , then (see [2] for example)

M
|g(z)|

(1 − |z|2 )1/p
for all z ∈ D, where M is a positive constant, and so
lim sup(1 − x) log |g(x)|
0.
x→1−

This shows that if f = Sσ g, where g ∈ H p , then

lim sup(1 − x) log |f (x)| = lim sup(1 − x) [log |Sσ (x)| + log |g(x)|]
−2σ.
x→1− x→1−

To prove the other direction, we assume that f belongs to H p and satisfies the
condition
lim sup(1 − x) log |f (x)|
−2σ.
x→1−

Then for each n  1 the function

2/p
f (z) n(1 − z)
gn (z) =
Sσ (z) n(1 − z) + 1
satisfies
lim sup(1 − x) log |gn (x)|
0.
x→1−

Since |f (z)|(1 − |z|2 )1/p is bounded in D (see previous paragraph) and the functions
1 − |z|2 and |1 − z|2 are comparable on any orocycle, we see that each function gn
is bounded on Cr (recall that Sσ has constant modulus on Cr ). Inside Cr , we have
 
 1 

|1 − z| log 
2  = σ(1 − |z|2 )
Sσ (z) 
and
1 − |z|2
|1 − z|2 log |f (z)|
log |f (z)|,
r
which clearly implies that
lim sup |1 − z|2 log |gn (z)|
0.
z→1

By Lemma 6 and the remark following it, each function gn is bounded inside Cr .
Since |gn | is dominated by |f | outside Cr , we can find a positive constant Mn such
that
|gn (z)|
Mn (1 + |f (z)|)
for all z ∈ D. In particular, each gn belongs to H p .
Let fn = Sσ gn . Then |fn (z)|
|f (z)| and fn (z) → f (z) for all z ∈ D. This shows
that fn − f H p → 0 as n → ∞. Since each fn is in Sσ H p and Sσ H p is closed in
H p , we conclude that f ∈ Sσ H p .

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 complemented invariant subspaces in bergman spaces 475
A consequence of the above result is that an inner function ϕ is divisible by Sσ
if and only if
lim sup(1 − x) log |ϕ(x)|
−2σ.
x→1−

In particular, if B is a Blaschke product, then

lim sup(1 − x) log |B(x)| = 0.
x→1−

Now consider the mapping

r 1
+ z= w,
1+r 1+r
which maps the unit circle |w| = 1 to the orocycle Cr , and the unit disk |w| < 1
onto the interior of Cr . The inverse of the above mapping is given by
 
r
w = (1 + r) z − .
1+r
Using these conformal mappings, and using the well-known theory of Hardy spaces
of the unit disk D, we easily realize H p (Cr ) as a closed subspace of Lp (Cr , dmr ),
where dmr is the normalized arc-length measure on Cr . In particular, the following
norm estimate for the Cauchy transform is a consequence of the above change of
variables and the classical M. Riesz theorem (see [2] for example) for the unit circle.

Lemma 8. For each 1 < p < ∞ the Cauchy transform

1 f (ζ) dζ
Qf (z) =
2πi Cr ζ − z
is a projection from Lp (Cr , dmr ) onto H p (Cr ). Moreover, there exists a positive
constant Mp , independent of r, such that



|Qf (z)| |dz|
Mp
p
|f (z)|p |dz|
Cr Cr

for all f ∈ L (Cr , dmr ).

p

The main point of the above lemma is that the constant Mp is independent of r.
In general, the Lp -boundedness of the Cauchy transform is expected to depend on
the particular curve involved.

Lemma 9. If f ∈ Ap , then the function (1 − z)2/p f (z) belongs to H p (Cr ).

Proof. Since |1 − z|2 is comparable to 1 − |z|2 on Cr , it is easy to see that the

measure |1 − z|2 dmr (z) is a Carleson-type measure for Ap ; see [10, Section 6.2].
This shows that the function
g(z) = (1 − z)2/p f (z)
is in Lp (Cr , dmr ).
Inside Cr , |1 − z|2 is dominated by 1 − |z|2 and f (z) grows at a maximum rate of
(1 − |z|2 )−2/p (see [5] for example), so the function (1 − z)N f (z) is bounded in Cr
when N > 4/p. It follows that g can be represented as a bounded analytic function
in Cr divided by a certain power of 1 − z. In particular, g is in H q (Cr ) when q

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 476 boris korenblum and kehe zhu
is small enough. By [3, Corollary 4.3, p. 65] and the conclusion of the previous
paragraph, g belongs to the Hardy space H p (Cr ).

Lemma 10. Every function f ∈ H p (Cr ) satisfies

lim sup(1 − x) log |f (x)|
0.
x→1−

Moreover, a function f ∈ H (Cr ) belongs to the closed subspace Sσ H p (Cr ) if and

p

only if
lim sup(1 − x) log |f (x)|
−2σ.
x→1−

Proof. This follows from Proposition 7 via the conformal mapping

r 1
z= + w
1+r 1+r
from the unit disk to the interior of Cr . Note that the point mass σ at z = 1 on Cr
transforms to the point mass σ(1 + r) at z = 1 on the unit circle. More specifically,
if z and w are related as above, then
Sσ(1+r) (w) = cSσ (z),
where c = eσr is a constant. We omit the details.

5. Spaces generated by atomic singular inner functions

Throughout this section we fix a positive mass σ. For any p ∈ (0, ∞) let Iσp denote
the invariant subspace of Ap generated by the atomic singular inner function
 
1+z
Sσ (z) = exp −σ .
1−z
Recall that Iσp is simply the closure of Sσ Ap in Ap .
We will need the following criterion for a function in Ap to belong to Iσp .

Proposition 11. Suppose that 0 < p < ∞ and f ∈ Ap . Then f ∈ Iσp if and
only if
lim sup(1 − x) log |f (x)|
−2σ.
x→1−

Proof. It is well known (see [1] and [5]) that the extremal problem
 
sup Re f (0) : f ∈ Iσp , f p
1
has a unique solution which is given by the formula
 2/p
pσ
G(z) = (1 + pσ)−1/p 1 + Sσ (z).
1−z
This is called the extremal function of Iσp . Furthermore, if f ∈ Iσp , then f /Gp

f p .
Now if a function f ∈ Ap belongs to Iσp , then f = Gg, where G is the extremal
function mentioned in the previous paragraph and g ∈ Ap . It is well known (see [5]

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 complemented invariant subspaces in bergman spaces 477
for example) that every function g in Ap satisfies
M
|g(z)|p
, z ∈ D,
(1 − |z|2 )2
where M is a positive constant, so
lim sup(1 − x) log |g(x)|
0.
x→1−

Since
lim sup(1 − x) log |G(x)| = −2σ,
x→1−

we conclude that
lim sup(1 − x) log |f (x)|
−2σ.
x→1−

The proof of the other direction is similar to the corresponding part in

Proposition 7, except here we use the functions

4/p
f (z) n(1 − z)
gn (z) = .
Sσ (z) n(1 − z) + 1
We omit the details.

Corollary 12. Suppose that 0 < p < ∞ and f ∈ Ap . Then the following
conditions are equivalent.
(1) f belongs to Iσp .
(2) The function (1 − z)2/p f (z) belongs to Sσ H p (Cr ) for every r > 0.
(3) The function (1 − z)2/p f (z) belongs to Sσ H p (Cr ) for some r > 0.

Proof. This follows from Lemma 9, Lemma 10, and Proposition 11.

If G is the extremal function for Iσp (see the proof of Proposition 11), then the
above corollary can be restated as follows. A function f ∈ Ap belongs to Iσp if and
only if f /G belongs to H p (Cr ) for every r > 0 if and only if f /G belongs to H p (Cr )
for some r > 0.
We proceed to prove the existence of a projection from Ap onto Iσp when
1 < p < ∞. First we show how to define it.

Lemma 13. For 1
p < ∞ we define an operator Qp acting on Ap as follows.

−2/p f (ζ)(1 − ζ)2/p dζ
Qp f (z) = (1 − z) Sσ (z) ,
Cr Sσ (ζ)(ζ − z) 2πi

where r is any positive number such that z lies inside Cr . Then the integral above
is independent of r so long as z lies inside Cr .

Proof. Note that the singular inner function Sσ has constant modulus on
each orocycle, and it is bounded from below between any two orocycles, so the
convergence of the above integral is a consequence of Lemma 9. The independence
of the integral on r is a consequence of (a slight generalization of) Cauchy’s integral
theorem.

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 478 boris korenblum and kehe zhu
Theorem 14. For any 1 < p < ∞ the operator Qp above is a bounded projection
from Ap onto Iσp . Furthermore, Q2 is the orthogonal projection from A2 onto Iσ2 .

Proof. We first prove that Qp is bounded on Ap . To this end, fix f ∈ Ap and let

f (ζ)(1 − ζ)2/p dζ
f (z) = , z ∈ D,
Cr Sσ (ζ)(ζ − z) 2πi

where Cr is any orocycle such that z is inside it. By Lemma 5, we have

1 ∞ −pσr
|Qp f (z)|p dA(z) = e dr |f (ζ)|p |dζ|.
D 2π 0 Cr

For any fixed r > 0, the values of f in the disk enclosed by Cr can be computed
using the same circle Cr and the resulting function is simply the Cauchy transform
of the following function in Lp (Cr , |dz|).
f (ζ)(1 − ζ)2/p
, ζ ∈ Cr .
Sσ (ζ)
By Lemma 8, there exists a constant Mp , independent of r and f , such that


 
 f (ζ)(1 − ζ)2/p p

|f (ζ)| |dζ|
Mp
p   |dζ|.
 Sσ (ζ) 
Cr Cr

It follows that




Mp ∞ −pσr
|Qp f (z)| dA(z)

p
e dr epσr |f (ζ)|p |1 − ζ|2 |dζ|
D 2π 0

Cr

= Mp |f (z)|p dA(z),
D
where Lemma 5 was used again (for the last equality above). This shows that Qp
is a bounded operator on Ap .
Next we show that Qp maps Ap into Iσp . Fix any r > 0 and consider the function
Qp f in the orocycle Cr . Thus for z inside Cr we have
Qp f (z) = (1 − z)−2/p Sσ (z)f (z),
where


f (ζ)(1 − ζ)2/p dζ
f (z) = .
Cr Sσ (ζ)(ζ − z) 2πi
Since f belongs to H p (Cr ), Lemma 10 gives us
lim sup(1 − x) log |f (x)|
0.
x→1−

This then implies that

lim sup(1 − x) log |Qp f (x)|
−2σ.
x→1−

By Proposition 11, we have Qp f ∈ Iσp .

That Qp acts as the identity operator on Iσp is a consequence of Corollary 12 and
the reproducing property of the Cauchy transform on H p (Cr ).
Finally, observe that the Cauchy transform is the orthogonal projection from
L2 (Cr , dmr ) onto H 2 (Cr ). Examining the arguments in the first paragraph of this

https://doi.org/10.1112/S0024610704006180 Published online by Cambridge University Press

 complemented invariant subspaces in bergman spaces 479
proof, we realize that the projection Q2 has norm 1 on A2 , which forces Q2 to be
an orthogonal projection. See the remark below.

If Q is any projection on a Hilbert space H, then it is an orthogonal projection

if and only if Q = 1. It is of course well known that every orthogonal projection
has norm 1. When Q, whose associated direct sum decomposition is given by
H = ran(Q) + ker(Q),
is not orthogonal, there must exist unit vectors f ∈ ran(Q) and g ∈ ker(Q) such
that f, g > 0. For any positive  the vector h = f − g satisfies Qh = f  and
f 2 − h2 = (2f, g − ).
If we choose  such that 0 <  < 2f, g, then Qh > h, so the norm of Q is
greater than 1.
Our representation of the orthogonal projection from A2 onto Iσ2 can be used to
calculate the extremal function G of Iσ2 . In fact, it is elementary to see that
Q2 (1)(z)
G(z) =
, z ∈ D.
Q2 (1)(0)
When calculating Q1 (1)(z) we may let r → 0+ and obtain


Sσ (z) S σ (ζ)(1 − ζ)
Q2 (1)(z) = dζ
2πi(1 − z) |ζ|=1 ζ −z
Sσ (z)
= [Sσ (0) − Sσ (0)z − Sσ (0)]
1−z  
2σ
= e−σ Sσ (z) 1 + .
1−z
It follows that  
1 2σ
G(z) = √ 1+ Sσ (z).
1 + 2σ 1−z
In general, if Kσ (z, w) is the reproducing kernel of Iσ2 , then
Kσ (z, w) = Q2 (Kw )(z), Kw (z) = (1 − zw)−2 .
An explicit formula for Kσ (z, w) is obtained in [9] by a different method.

6. Concluding remarks
Three methods are introduced in this paper for showing that a certain invariant
subspace of Ap is complemented. The orthogonal projection method is shown to
work in the case of finite Blaschke products, the level-curve method is shown to
work for atomic singular functions, and a method based on interpolation is also
introduced to deal with certain zero-based invariant subspaces.
The level-curve method can work only in the case when the level curves of the
generating function are computable. Besides the atomic singular inner functions,
the level curves of a Blaschke product with a single zero of any multiplicity are also
computable. We omit the details.
The orthogonal projection method is also limited. For example, it is shown in [9]
that the orthogonal projection from A2 onto Iσ2 cannot possibly be bounded on all
Ap .

https://doi.org/10.1112/S0024610704006180 Published online by Cambridge University Press

 480 complemented invariant subspaces in bergman spaces
The method based on interpolation of function values naturally works for
invariant subspaces generated by Ap interpolating sequences. We feel that it might
be possible to make it work for invariant subspaces generated by more general zero
sets. In particular, we feel that it should be possible to make it work for invariant
subspaces of Ap generated by Blaschke sequences.

References
1. A. Aleman, S. Richter and C. Sundberg, ‘Beurling’s theorem for the Bergman space’, Acta
Math. 177 (1996) 275–310.
2. P. Duren, Theory of H p spaces (Academic Press, New York, 1970).
3. J. Garnett, Bounded analytic functions (Academic Press, New York, 1981).
4. H. Hedenmalm, B. Korenblum and K. Zhu, ‘Beurling type invariant subspaces of the
Bergman spaces’, J. London Math. Soc. (2) 53 (1996) 601–614.
5. H. Hedenmalm, B. Korenblum and K. Zhu, Theory of Bergman spaces (Springer, New York,
2000).
6. A. Markushevich, Theory of functions of a complex variable (Chelsea, New York, 1977).
7. K. Seip, ‘Beurling type density theorems in the unit disk’, Invent. Math. 113 (1993) 21–39.
8. E. Titchmarsh, The theory of functions, 2nd edn (Oxford University Press, 1939).
9. W. Yang, ‘The reproducing kernel of an invariant subspace of the Bergman space’, PhD
Dissertation, State University of New York, Albany, 2002.
10. K. Zhu, Operator theory in function spaces (Marcel Dekker, New York, 1990).
11. K. Zhu, ‘Interpolating sequences for the Bergman space’, Michigan Math. J. 41 (1994) 73–86.

Boris Korenblum and Kehe Zhu

Department of Mathematics
State University of New York
Albany
NY 12222
USA
kzhu@math.albany.edu
borisko@math.albany.edu

https://doi.org/10.1112/S0024610704006180 Published online by Cambridge University Press