Spectrum of composition operators on [formula omitted] with polynomial symbols

Abstract

We study the spectrum of operators in the Schwartz space of rapidly decreasing functions which associate each function with its composition with a polynomial. In the case where this operator is mean ergodic we prove that its spectrum reduces to {0}, while the spectrum of any non mean ergodic composition operator with a polynomial always contains the closed unit disc except perhaps the origin. We obtain a complete description of the spectrum of the composition operator with a quadratic polynomial or a cubic polynomial with positive leading coefficient.