EN
Let A be a commutative semisimple Banach algebra, Δ(A) its Gelfand spectrum, T a multiplier on A and T̂ its Gelfand transform. We study the following problems. (a) When is δ(T) = inf{|T̂(f)|: f ∈ Δ(A), T̂(f) ≠ 0} > 0? (b) When is the range T(A) of T closed in A and does it have a bounded approximate identity? (c) How to characterize the idempotent multipliers in terms of subsets of Δ(A)?