Finite dimensional quotients of commutative operator algebras

The matrix normed structure of the unitization of a (non-selfadjoint) operator algebra is determined by that of the original operator algebra. This yields a classification up to completely isometric isomorphism of two-dimensional unital operator algebras. This allows to define invariant distances on the spectrum of commutative operator algebras analogous to the Caratheodory distance for complex manifolds. Moreover, unitizations of two-dimensional operator algebras with zero multiplication provide a rich class of counterexamples. Especially, several badly behaved quotients of function algebras are exhibited. Recently, Arveson has developed a model theory for d-contractions. Quotients of the operator algebra of the d-shift are much more well-behaved than quotients of function algebras. Completely isometric representations of these quotients are obtained explicitly. This provides a generalization of Nevanlinna-Pick theory. An important property of quotients of the d-shift algebra is that their quotients of finite dimension r have completely isometric representations by rxr-matrices. Finally, the class of commutative operator algebras with this property is investigated.