On closures of joint similarity orbits

For an n-tuple T=(T₁,..., T_n) of operators on a Hilbert spacexxHx, the joint similarity orbit of T isxxSx(T)={VTV^–1 =(VT₁V^–1,...,VT_nV^–1): V is invertible onxxHx}. We study the structure of the norm closure ofxxSx, both in the case when T is commutative and when it is not. We first develop a Rota-model for the Taylor spectrum and use it to study n-tuples with totally disconnected Taylor spectrum, in particular quasinilpotent ones. We then consider limits of nilpotent n-tuples, and of normal n-tuples. For noncommuting n-tuples, we present a number of surprising facts relating the closure ofxxSx(T) to the Harte spectrum of T and the lack of commutativity of T. We show that a continuous function which is constant onxxSx(T) for all T must be constant. We conclude the paper with a detailed study of closed similarity orbits.Research partially supported by grants from the National Science Foundation.