Isometries of measurable functions

Abstract

Let (X, Σ, μ) be a σ-finite measure space and denote by L∞(X, K) the Banach space of essentially bounded, measurable functions F defined on X and taking values in a separable Hilbert space K. In this article a characterization is given of the linear isometries of L∞(X, K) onto itself. It is shown that if T is such an isometry then T is of the form (T(F))(x) = U(x)(φ(F))(x), where φ is a set isomorphism of Σ onto itself, and U is a measurable operator-valued function such that U(x) is almost everywhere an isometry of K onto itself. It is a consequence of the proof given here that every isometry of L∞(X, K) is the adjoint of an isometry of L1(x, K).