Characterizations of the polynomial numerical hull of degree k

Six characterizations of the polynomial numerical hull of degree k are established for bounded linear operators on a Hilbert space. It is shown how these characterizations provide a natural distinction between interior and boundary points. One of the characterizations is used to prove that the polynomial numerical hull of any fixed degree k for a Toeplitz matrix whose symbol is piecewise continuous approaches all or most of that of the infinite-dimensional Toeplitz operator, as the matrix size goes to infinity.