Tensor products of subnormal operators

We shall use a -algebra approach to study operators of the form where is subnormal and is normal. We shall determine the spectral properties for these operators, and find the minimal normal extension and the dual operator. We also give a necessary condition for to contain a compact operator and a sufficient condition for the algebraic equivalence of and .

We also consider the existence of a homomorphism satisfying . We shall characterize the operators such that exists for every operator .

The problem of when is unitarily equivalent to is considered. Complete results are given when and are positive operators with finite multiplicity functions and has compact self-commutator. Some examples are also given.