A brief survey on operator theory in $H^2(\mathbb D^2)$

Abstract

This survey aims to give a brief introduction to operator theory in the Hardy space over the bidisc $H^2(\mathbb D^2)$. As an important component of multivariable operator theory, the theory in $H^2(\mathbb D^2)$ focuses primarily on two pairs of commuting operators that are naturally associated with invariant subspaces (or submodules) in $H^2(\mathbb D^2)$. Connection between operator-theoretic properties of the pairs and the structure of the invariant subspaces is the main subject. The theory in $H^2(\mathbb D^2)$ is motivated by and still tightly related to several other influential theories, namely Nagy-Foias theory on operator models, Ando's dilation theorem of commuting operator pairs, Rudin's function theory on $H^2(\mathbb D^n)$, and Douglas-Paulsen's framework of Hilbert modules. Due to the simplicity of the setting, a great supply of examples in particular, the operator theory in $H^2(\mathbb D^2)$ has seen remarkable growth in the past two decades. This survey is far from a full account of this development but rather a glimpse from the author's perspective. Its goal is to show an organized structure of this theory, to bring together some results and references and to inspire curiosity on new researchers.