Orthogonality in Classes

Abstract.

 Let denote the von Neumann–Schatten class, its norm and let be an elementary operator defined by . We shall characterize those operators which are orthogonal to the range of in the sense that for all . The main results of this paper are: If and (i) if A, C, respectively B, D are commuting normal operators with , or (ii) if A, B are contractions and , then is orthogonal to the range of if and only of S is in the kernel of . Furthermore, in both cases, the algebraic direct sum satisfies .