Schrödinger operators and unique continuation. Towards an optimal result

In this article we prove the property of unique continuation (also known for C^∞ functions as quasianalyticity) for solutions of the differential inequality |Δu|?|Vu| for V from a wide class of potentials (including class) and u in a space of solutions YV containing all eigenfunctions of the corresponding self-adjoint Schrödinger operator. Motivating question: is it true that for potentials V, for which self-adjoint Schrödinger operator is well defined, the property of unique continuation holds?     

Estimates for fundamental solutions and spectral bounds for a class of Schrödinger operators

We study a class of Schrödinger operators of the form , where is a nonnegative function singular at 0, that is V(0)=0. Under suitable assumptions on the potential V, we derive sharp lower and upper bounds for the fundamental solution hε. Moreover, we obtain information on the spectrum of the self-adjoint operator defined by Lε in L²(R). In particular, we give a lower bound for the eigenvalues.     

On a paper by Gesztesy, Simon, and Teschl concerning isospectral deformations of ordinary Schrödinger operators

Starting from a selfadjoint Schrödinger operator A=−d²/dx²+q with a gap G in its spectrum F. Gesztesy, B. Simon, G. Teschl [J. Analyse Math. 70 (1996) 267-324] succeed in constructing another Schrödinger operator that is unitarily equivalent (and thus isospectral) to A. As the means they apply come from the Weyl-Titchmarsh theory the connections prove to be intricate, in particular the relation between A and . We show that a central assertion in GST's paper rests substantially on factorizations of the form

     

On the unitary equivalence of absolutely continuous parts of self-adjoint extensions

The classical Weyl-von Neumann theorem states that for any self-adjoint operator A₀ in a separable Hilbert space H there exists a (non-unique) Hilbert-Schmidt operator C=C^? such that the perturbed operator A₀+C has purely point spectrum. We are interesting whether this result remains valid for non-additive perturbations by considering the set ExtA of self-adjoint extensions of a given densely defined symmetric operator A in H and some fixed . We show that the ac-parts and of and A₀ are unitarily equivalent provided that the resolvent difference is compact and the Weyl function M(⋅) of the pair {A,A₀} admits weak boundary limits M(t):=w-lim_y→+0M(t+iy) for a.e. t∈R. This result generalizes the classical Kato-Rosenblum theorem. Moreover, it demonstrates that for such pairs {A,A₀} the Weyl-von Neumann theorem is in general not true in the class ExtA.     

Semiclassical non-concentration near hyperbolic orbits

For a large class of semiclassical pseudodifferential operators, including Schrödinger operators, P(h)=−h²Δg+V(x), on compact Riemannian manifolds, we give logarithmic lower bounds on the mass of eigenfunctions outside neighbourhoods of generic closed hyperbolic orbits. More precisely we show that if A is a pseudodifferential operator which is microlocally equal to the identity near the hyperbolic orbit and microlocally zero away from the orbit, then

     

Internal Lifshits tails for random magnetic Schrödinger operators

This paper is devoted to the study of Lifshits tails for weak random magnetic perturbations of periodic Schrödinger operators acting on L²(Rd) of the form Hλ,w=(−i∇−λ_∑γ∈ZdwγA²(⋅−γ))+V, where V is a Zd-periodic potential, λ is positive coupling constants, (wγ)_γ∈Zd are i.i.d and bounded random variables and is the single site vector magnetic potential. We prove that, for λ small, at an open band edge, a true Lifshits tail for the random magnetic Schrödinger operator occurs if a certain set of conditions on H₀=−Δ+V and on A holds.     

Singularly perturbed self-adjoint operators in scales of Hilbert spaces

Finite-rank perturbations of a semibounded self-adjoint operator A are studied in a scale of Hilbert spaces associated with A. The notion of quasispace of boundary values is used to describe self-adjoint operator realizations of regular and singular perturbations of the operator A by the same formula. As an application, the one-dimensional Schrödinger operator with generalized zero-range potential is studied in the Sobolev space W ₂ ^p (?), p ∈ ?.     

“Localized” self-adjointness of Schrödinger type operators on Riemannian manifolds

We prove self-adjointness of the Schrödinger type operator , where ∇ is a Hermitian connection on a Hermitian vector bundle E over a complete Riemannian manifold M with positive smooth measure dμ which is fixed independently of the metric, and V∈L_loc¹(EndE) is a Hermitian bundle endomorphism. Self-adjointness of H_V is deduced from the self-adjointness of the corresponding “localized” operator. This is an extension of a result by Cycon. The proof uses the scheme of Cycon, but requires a refined integration by parts technique as well as the use of a family of cut-off functions which are constructed by a non-trivial smoothing procedure due to Karcher.     

The similarity problem for J-nonnegative Sturm-Liouville operators

Sufficient conditions for the similarity of the operator with an indefinite weight r(x)=(sgnx)|r(x)| are obtained. These conditions are formulated in terms of Titchmarsh-Weyl m-coefficients. Sufficient conditions for the regularity of the critical points 0 and ∞ of J-nonnegative Sturm-Liouville operators are also obtained. This result is exploited to prove the regularity of 0 for various classes of Sturm-Liouville operators. This implies the similarity of the considered operators to self-adjoint ones. In particular, in the case r(x)=sgnx and , we prove that A is similar to a self-adjoint operator if and only if A is J-nonnegative. The latter condition on q is sharp, i.e., we construct such that A is J-nonnegative with the singular critical point 0. Hence A is not similar to a self-adjoint operator. For periodic and infinite-zone potentials, we show that J-positivity is sufficient for the similarity of A to a self-adjoint operator. In the case q≡0, we prove the regularity of the critical point 0 for a wide class of weights r. This yields new results for “forward-backward” diffusion equations.     

Eigenvalue asymptotics for the Schrödinger operators on the hyperbolic plane

In this paper we consider the Schrödinger operator on the hyperbolic plane , where is the hyperbolic Laplacian and V is a scalar potential on . It is proven that, under an appropriate condition on V at ‘infinity’, the number of eigenvalues of H_V less than λ is asymptotically equal to the canonical volume of the quasi-classically allowed region as λ→∞. Our proof is based on the probabilistic methods and the standard Tauberian argument as in the proof of Theorem 10.5 in Simon (Functional Integration and Quantum Physics, Academic Press, New York, 1979).     

p-Adic Schrödinger-type operator with point interactions

A p-adic Schrödinger-type operator Dα+VY is studied. Dα (α>0) is the operator of fractional differentiation and (bij∈C) is a singular potential containing the Dirac delta functions δx concentrated on a set of points Y={x₁,…,xn} of the field of p-adic numbers Qp. It is shown that such a problem is well posed for α>1/2 and the singular perturbation VY is form-bounded for α>1. In the latter case, the spectral analysis of η-self-adjoint operator realizations of Dα+VY in L₂(Qp) is carried out.     

Riesz transforms associated to Schrödinger operators on weighted Hardy spaces

Let w be some Ap weight and enjoy reverse Hölder inequality, and let L=−Δ+V be a Schrödinger operator on Rn, where is a non-negative function on Rn. In this article we introduce weighted Hardy spaces associated to L in terms of the area function characterization, and prove their atomic characters. We show that the Riesz transform ∇L−1/2 associated to L is bounded on for 1<p<2, and bounded from to the classical weighted Hardy space .     

A spectral approach for the exact observability of infinite-dimensional systems with skew-adjoint generator

Let A be a possibly unbounded skew-adjoint operator on the Hilbert space X with compact resolvent. Let C be a bounded operator from D(A) to another Hilbert space Y. We consider the system governed by the state equation with the output y(t)=Cz(t). We characterize the exact observability of this system only in terms of C and of the spectral elements of the operator A. The starting point in the proof of this result is a Hautus-type test, recently obtained in Burq and Zworski (J. Amer. Soc. 17 (2004) 443-471) and Miller (J. Funct. Anal. 218 (2) (2005) 425-444). We then apply this result to various systems governed by partial differential equations with observation on the boundary of the domain. The Schrödinger equation, the Bernoulli-Euler plate equation and the wave equation in a square are considered. For the plate and Schrödinger equations, the main novelty brought in by our results is that we prove the exact boundary observability for an arbitrarily small observed part of the boundary. This is done by combining our spectral observability test to a theorem of Beurling on nonharmonic Fourier series and to a new number theoretic result on shifted squares.     

Local smoothing property and Strichartz inequality for Schrödinger equations with potentials superquadratic at infinity

We study smoothing properties for time-dependent Schrödinger equations , , with potentials which satisfy V(x)=O(|x|^m) at infinity, m?2. We show that the solution u(t,x) is 1/m times differentiable with respect to x at almost all , and explain that this is the result of the fact that the sojourn time of classical particles with energy λ in arbitrary compact set is less than CTλ^−1/m during [0,T] when λ is very large. We also show Strichartz's inequality with derivative loss for such potentials and give its application to nonlinear Schrödinger equations.     

Regularity for a Schrödinger equation with singular potentials and application to bilinear optimal control

We study the Schrödinger equation i∂_tu+Δu+V₀u+V₁u=0 on R³×(0,T), where V₀(x,t)=|x-a(t)|^-1, with a∈W^2,1(0,T;R³), is a coulombian potential, singular at finite distance, and V₁ is an electric potential, possibly unbounded. The initial condition u₀∈H²(R³) is such that . The potential V₁ is also real valued and may depend on space and time variables. We prove that if V₁ is regular enough and at most quadratic at infinity, this problem is well-posed and the regularity of the initial data is conserved for the solution. We also give an application to the bilinear optimal control of the solution through the electric potential.