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Noncommutative ball maps

In this paper, we analyze problems involving matrix variables for which we use a noncommutative algebra setting. To be more specific, we use a class of functions (called NC analytic functions) defined by power series in noncommuting variables and evaluate these functions on sets of matrices of all dimensions; we call such situations dimension-free. These types of functions have recently been used in the study of dimension-free linear system engineering problems. In this paper we characterize NC analytic maps that send dimension-free matrix balls to dimension-free matrix balls and carry the boundary to the boundary; such maps we call "NC ball maps". We find that up to normalization, an NC ball map is the direct sum of the identity map with an NC analytic map of the ball into the ball. That is, "NC ball maps" are very simple, in contrast to the classical result of D'Angelo on such analytic maps over C. Another mathematically natural class of maps carries a variant of the noncommutative distinguished boundary to the boundary, but on these our results are limited. We shall be interested in several types of noncommutative balls, conventional ones, but also balls defi