Isometric pairs with compact and normal cross-commutator

We represent and classify pairs of commuting isometries $(V_1,V_2)$ acting on Hilbert spaces that satisfy the condition $$[V_1^{\ast },V_2]=\text{compact and normal},$$ where $[V_1^{\ast },V_2]:=V_1^{\ast }{V}_2-V_2{V}_1^{\ast }$ is the cross-commutator of $(V_1,V_2)$. The precise description of such pairs also gives a complete and concrete set of unitary invariants. The basic building blocks of representations of such pairs consist of four distinguished pairs of commuting isometries. One of them relies on some peculiar examples of invariant subspaces tracing back to Rudin’s intricate constructions of analytic functions on the bidisc. Along the way, we present a rank formula for a general pair of commuting isometries that looks to be the first of its kind.