English

CPD $n$th roots of subnormal operators are subnormal

Functional Analysis 2026-04-14 v1

Abstract

We investigate the nnth root problem for bounded operators on a Hilbert space within the class of conditionally positive definite (CPD) operators determined by the L\'evy--Khintchine formula. The class contains subnormal operators, complete hypercontractions of order 22, and 33-isometries. Our main result shows that if TT is a CPD operator such that TnT^n is subnormal (resp., quasinormal, normal, or a 33-isometry), then TT belongs to the corresponding class. This establishes the invariance of these classes under taking nnth roots within the CPD class and extends several earlier results in operator theory. Furthermore, we provide characterizations of quasinormal and normal operators in terms of their CPD property and the structure of the representing triplet. Finally, we show that the classes of CPD and normaloid operators are distinct by means of both theoretical arguments and explicit examples.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2604.10810,
  title  = {CPD $n$th roots of subnormal operators are subnormal},
  author = {Zenon Jan Jabłoński and Il Bong Jung and Paweł Pietrzycki and Jan Stochel},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2604.10810},
  year   = {2026}
}
R2 v1 2026-07-01T12:05:18.217Z