A property of the polar decomposition of an operator

functional-analysisoperator-theory

Suppose that $T$ be an operator on Hilbert space $H$. By the polar decomposition theorem of functional analysis we have:

Let $T$ be an operator on Hilbert space $H$. Then there exists a partial isometry $U$ such that $T=U|T|$, where $|T|={(T^*T)}^\frac{1}{2}$, and $N(U) = N(|T|)$ and $U^* U|T|=|T|$.

Note that with the condition $N(U) = N(|T|)$ we can show that such polar decomosition is unique.

Now I want to show that if $T^2 =I$ then $U^2 =I$.

Best Answer

Since $T^2=I$, you have $T^{-1}=T$. From $T=U|T|$, we get $U=T|T|^{-1}$. Then $$ |T|^{-1}=(T^*T)^{-1/2}=[(T^*T)^{-1}]^{1/2}=[T^{-1}{T^{-1}}^*]^{1/2}=(TT^*)^{1/2}. $$ Now the key fact is that $T(T^*T)^n=(TT^*)^nT$, and as the square root is a limit of polynomials with no constant term, $$ T(T^*T)^{1/2}=(TT^*)^{1/2}T. $$ Thus $$ |T|^{-1}T=(TT^*)^{1/2}T=T(T^*T)^{1/2}=T|T|. $$ Thus $$ U^2=T|T|^{-1}T|T|^{-1}=TT|T||T|^{-1}=I. $$