Kernels of unbounded Toeplitz operators and factorization of symbols

Abstract: We consider kernels of unbounded Toeplitz operators in $H^p(\mathbb C^+)$ in terms of a factorization of their symbols. We study the existence of a minimal Toeplitz kernel containing a given function in $H^p(\mathbb C^+)$, we describe the kernels of Toeplitz operators whose symbol possesses a certain factorization involving two different Hardy spaces and we establish relations between the kernels of two operators whose symbols differ by a factor which corresponds, in the unit circle, to a non-integer power of $z$. We apply the results to describe the kernels of Toeplitz operators with non-vanishing piecewise continuous symbols.