a Course in Commutative Banach Algebras

Banach algebras are Banach spaces equipped with a continuous multipli- tion. In roughterms,there arethree types ofthem:algebrasofboundedlinear operators on Banach spaces with composition and the operator norm, al- bras consisting of bounded continuous functions on topological spaces with pointwise product and the uniform norm, and algebrasof integrable functions on locally compact groups with convolution as multiplication. These all play a key role in modern analysis. Much of operator theory is best approached from a Banach algebra point of view and many questions in complex analysis (such as approximation by polynomials or rational functions in speci?c - mains) are best understood within the framework of Banach algebras. Also, the study of a locally compact Abelian group is closely related to the study 1 of the group algebra L (G).

The primarily objective of the book is to serve as a primer on the theory of bounded linear operators on separable Hilbert space.

In an elegant and concise fashion, this book presents the concepts of functional analysis required by students of mathematics and physics. It begins with the basics of normed linear spaces and quickly proceeds to concentrate on Hilbert spaces, specifically the spectral theorem for bounded as well as unbounded operators in separable Hilbert spaces.