Toeplitz operators in several complex variables

Let S be the unit sphere in Cⁿ. We investigate the properties of Toeplitz operators on S, i.e., operators of the form Tφf = P(φf) where φ?L^∞(S) and P denotes the projection of L²(S) onto H²(S). The aim of this paper is to determine how far the extensive one-variable theory remains valid in higher dimensions. We establish the spectral inclusion theorem, that the spectrum of T_φ contains the essential range of φ, and obtain a characterization of the Toeplitz operators among operators on H²(S) by an operator equation. Particular attention is paid to the case where φ ? H^∞(S) + C(S) where C(S) denotes the algebra of continuous functions on S. Finally we describe a class of Toeplitz operators useful for providing counterexamples—in particular, Widom's theorem on the connectedness of the spectrum fails when n > 1.