The Structure of the Closure of the Rational Functions in $L^q$($\mu$)$

Abstract

Let $K$ be a compact subset in the complex plane and let $A(K)$ be the uniform closure of the functions continuous on $K$ and analytic on $K^{\circ }$. Let $\mu$ be a positive finite measure with its support contained in $K$. For $1\le q<\infty$, let $A^q(K,\mu )$ denote the closure of $A(K)$ in $L^q(\mu )$. The aim of this work is to study the structure of the space $A^q(K,\mu )$. We seek a necessary and sufficient condition on $K$ so that a Thomson-type structure theorem for $A^q(K,\mu )$ can be established. Our results essentially give perfect solutions to the major open problem in the research filed of theory of subnormal operators and aproximation by analytic functions in the mean .