Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 November 2018
Let B be a Douglas algebra which admits best approximation. It will be shown that the following are equivalent: (1) The unit ball of (L∞/B) has no extreme points; (2) For any Blaschke product b with , there exists h ∈ B such that = 1 and h|E≢0, where E is the essential set of B.
It will also be proven that if B⊇H∞+C and its essential set E contains a closed Gδ set, then the unit ball of (L∞/B) has no extreme points. Many known results concerning this subject will follow from these results.