Abstract/Summary

The geometric descriptions of the (essential) spectra of Toeplitz operators with piecewise continuous symbols are among the most beautiful results about Toeplitz operators on Hardy spaces $H^p$ with $1<p<\infty$. In the Hardy space $H^1$, the essential spectra of Toeplitz operators are known for continuous symbols and symbols in the Douglas algebra $C+H^\infty$. It is natural to ask whether the theory for piecewise continuous symbols can also be extended to $H^1$. We answer this question in negative and show in particular that the Toeplitz operator is never bounded on $H^1$ if its symbol has a jump discontinuity.