On similarity of quasinilpotent operators

Bounded linear operators on separable Banach spaces algebraically similar to the classical Volterra operator V acting on C[0,1] are characterized. From this characterization it follows that V does not determine the topology of C[0,1], which answers a question raised by Armando Villena. A sufficient condition for an injective bounded linear operator on a Banach space to determine its topology is obtained. From this condition it follows, for instance, that the Volterra operator acting on the Hardy space Hp of the unit disk determines the topology of Hp for any p∈[1,∞].