Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 November 2018
Let $K$ denote a compact real symmetric subset of
$\mathbb{C}$ and let
${{A}_{\mathbb{R}}}\left( K \right)$ denote the real Banach algebra of all real symmetric continuous functions on
$K$ that are analytic in the interior
${{K}^{\circ }}$ of
$K$, endowed with the supremum norm. We characterize all unimodular pairs
$\left( f,\,g \right)$ in
${{A}_{\mathbb{R}}}{{\left( K \right)}^{2}}$ which are reducible. In addition, for an arbitrary compact
$K$ in
$\mathbb{C}$, we give a new proof (not relying on Banach algebra theory or elementary stable rank techniques) of the fact that the Bass stable rank of
$A\left( K \right)$ is 1. Finally, we also characterize all compact real symmetric sets
$K$ such that
${{A}_{\mathbb{R}}}\left( K \right)$, respectively
${{C}_{\mathbb{R}}}\left( K \right)$, has Bass stable rank 1.