Extremal functions as divisors for kernels of Toeplitz operators

In this paper, an extremal function of a Banach space of analytic functions in the unit disk (not all functions vanishing at 0) is a function solving the extremal problem sup Re f(0) for functions f of norm 1. We study extremal functions of kernels of Toeplitz operators on Hardy spaces Hp, 12 (modulo p-dependent multiplicative constants). We give examples showing that the extremal function may fail to be a contractive divisor when p>2 and also fail to be an expansive divisor when p<2. We discuss to what extent these results characterize the Toeplitz operators via invariant subspaces for the backward shift.