Which linear-fractional composition operators are essentially normal? ✩

We characterize the essentially normal composition operators induced on the Hardy space H2 by linear-fractional maps; they are either compact, normal, or (the nontrivial case) induced by parabolic nonautomorphisms. These parabolic maps induce the first known examples of nontrivially essentially normal composition operators. In addition, we characterize those linear-fractionally induced composition operators on H2 that are essentially self-adjoint, and present a number of results for composition operators induced by maps that are not linear-fractional.  2003 Elsevier Science (USA). All rights reserved.