Spectrally isometric elementary operators

We present criteria for unital elementary operators (of small length) on unital semisimple Banach algebras to be spectral isometries. The surjective ones among them turn out to be algebra automorphisms.

Elementary operators-still not elementary?

Properties of elementary operators, that is, finite sums of two-sided multiplications on a Banach algebra, have been studied under a vast variety of aspects by numerous authors. In this paper we review recent advances in a new direction that seems not to have been explored before: the question when an elementary operator is spectrally bounded or spectrally isometric. As with other investigations, a number of subtleties occur which show that elementary operators are still not elementary to handle.