Isometries in Semisimple, Commutative Banach Algebras

Abstract

We show that for any semisimple, commutative, complex Banach algebra $A$ with unit there are norms on $A$, which we call natural norms, equivalent to the original norm on $A$ with the following property: Let $(A,|| \cdot |{|_A},{e_A})$ and $(B,|| \cdot |{|_B},{e_B})$ are commutative, semisimple Banach algebras with units and natural norms. Assume $T$ is a linear isometry from $(A,|| \cdot |{|_A})$ onto $(B,|| \cdot |{|_B})$ with $T{e_A} = {e_B}$. Then $T$ is an isomorphism in the category of Banach algebras. For a fairly large class of algebras, for example, for uniform algebras, for algebras of the form ${C^k}(X),{\text { Lip}}(X),{\text { AC}}(X)$, the natural norm we have defined coincides with a usual norm.