Hyperinvariant Subspaces for Some B–circular Operators

We show that if A is a Hilbert–space operator, then the set of all projections onto hyperinvariant subspaces of A, which is contained in the von Neumann algebra vN(A) that is generated by A, is independent of the representation of vN(A), thought of as an abstract W∗–algebra. We modify a technique of Foias, Ko, Jung and Pearcy to get a method for finding nontrivial hyperinvariant subspaces of certain operators in finite von Neumann algebras. We introduce the B–circular operators as a special case of Speicher’s B–Gaussian operators in free probability theory, and we prove several results about a B–circular operator z, including formulas for the B–valued Cauchy– and R–transforms of z∗z. We show that a large class of L∞([0, 1])–circular operators in finite von Neumann algebras have nontrivial hyperinvariant subspaces, and that another large class of them can be embedded in the free group factor L(F3). These results generalize some of what is known about the quasinilpotent DT–operator.