In sharp contrast to the Hardy space case, the algebraic properties of Toeplitz operators on the Bergman space are quite different and abnormally complicated. In this paper, we study the finite-rank problem for a class of operators consisting of all finite linear combinations of Toeplitz products with monomial symbols on the Bergman space of the unit disk. It turns out that such a problem is equivalent to the problem of when the corresponding finite linear combination of rational functions is zero. As an application, we consider the finite-rank problem for the commutator and semi-commutator of Toeplitz operators whose symbols are finite linear combinations of monomials. In particular, we construct many motivating examples in the theory of algebraic properties of Toeplitz operators.
