Similarity and ergodic theory of positive linear maps

In this paper we study the operator inequality \phi(X)\leq X and the operator equation \phi(X)= X, where \phi is a w^*-continuous positive (resp. completely positive) linear map on B(H). We show that their solutions are in one-to-one correspondence with a class of Poisson transforms on Cuntz-Toeplitz C^*-algebras, if \phi is completely positive. Canonical decompositions, ergodic type theorems, and lifting theorems are obtained and used to provide a complete description of all solutions, when \phi(I)\leq I. We show that the above-mentioned inequality (resp. equation) and the structure of its solutions have strong implications in connection with representations of Cuntz-Toeplitz C^*-algebras, common invariant subspaces for n-tuples of operators, similarity of positive linear maps, and numerical invariants associated with Hilbert modules over \CF_n^+, the complex free semigroup algebra generated by the free semigroup on n generators.