Essential self-adjointness of Schrödinger-type operators

The essential self-adjointness of the strongly elliptic operator L = ∑_j,k=1ⁿ (?_j ? ib_j(x)) a_jk(x)(?_k ? ib_k(x)) + q(x) acting on C₀^∞(Rⁿ) is considered, where the matrix (a_jk) is real and symmetric, b_j and q are real, a_jk and b_j are sufficiently smooth, and q?L_loc². It has been shown by Ural'ceva and also Laptev that if q is bounded below and n ? 3 the minimal operator may not be self-adjoint if the principal coefficients rise too rapidly. Thus a theorem of Weyl for ordinary differential operators does not extend to partial differential operators. In this paper it is shown that if q is bounded below and if the principal coefficients are “well behaved” within a sequence of closed shells which go to infinity, then the minimal operator is self-adjoint. It is also shown that a number of results which were known to be true when q is sufficiently smooth may be extended to include the case where q?L_loc². The principal tools used are a distribution inequality due to Tosio Kato and a general maximum principle due to Walter Littman.     

Spectral theory of discontinuous functions of self-adjoint operators and scattering theory

In the smooth scattering theory framework, we consider a pair of self-adjoint operators H₀, H and discuss the spectral projections of these operators corresponding to the interval (−∞,λ). The purpose of the paper is to study the spectral properties of the difference D(λ) of these spectral projections. We completely describe the absolutely continuous spectrum of the operator D(λ) in terms of the eigenvalues of the scattering matrix S(λ) for the operators H₀ and H. We also prove that the singular continuous spectrum of the operator D(λ) is empty and that its eigenvalues may accumulate only at “thresholds” in the absolutely continuous spectrum.     

Un contre-exemple pour les formes invariantes sur un corps fini

Let A be a Jordan algebra over the reals which is a Banach space with respect to a norm satisfying the requirements: (i) ∥ a ° b ∥ ≤ ∥ a ∥ ∥ b ∥, (ii) ∥ a² ∥ = ∥ a ∥², (iii) ∥ a² ∥ ≤ ∥ a² + b² ∥ for a, b?A. It is shown that A possesses a unique norm closed Jordan ideal J such that $\text{A}\text{J}$ has a faithful representation as a Jordan algebra of self-adjoint operators on a complex Hilbert space, while every “irreducible” representation of A not annihilating J is onto the exceptional Jordan algebra M₃⁸.     

Symmetric operators with real defect subspaces of the maximal dimension. Applications to differential operators

Let H be a Hilbert space and let A be a simple symmetric operator in H with equal deficiency indices d:=n_±(A)<∞. We show that if, for all λ in an open interval I⊂R, the dimension of defect subspaces Nλ(A) (=Ker(A^?−λ)) coincides with d, then every self-adjoint extension has no continuous spectrum in I and the point spectrum of is nowhere dense in I. Application of this statement to differential operators makes it possible to generalize the known results by Weidmann to the case of an ordinary differential expression with both singular endpoints and arbitrary equal deficiency indices of the minimal operator.     

Schrödinger operators on manifolds, essential self-adjointness, and absence of eigenvalues

Suppose thatM ⁿ is a complete, noncompact, Riemannian manifold. If Δ denotes the Laplace operator ofM, one has associated Schrödinger operators ? Δ +V. Conditions onV are formulated, which ensures the essential self-adjointness of ? Δ +V. In particular, ifV ∈ Q_α,loc (M ⁿ), the local Stummel class, andV ≥ ? c outside of a compact set, then ? Δ +V is essentially self-adjoint on C ₀ ^∞ (M ⁿ). In addition, essential self-adjointness is proved for potentials which are strongly singular at a point. The absence of eigenvalues of ?Δ +V is also studied. This relies upon Rellich-type identities. The results on strongly singular potentials make use of a generalization of the classical uncertainty principle, inR ⁿ, to Riemannian manifolds with a pole.     

Multiplicity of the spectrum of a self-adjoint ordinary differential operator of odd order

A bound is obtained for the multiplicity of the spectrum of the self-adjoint operator generated by a singular ordinary differential operator? of odd order in the Hubert space ?² in terms of solutions of the differential equation?[y]=λy.     

Spectral inclusion for unbounded block operator matrices

In this paper we establish a new analytic enclosure for the spectrum of unbounded linear operators A admitting a block operator matrix representation. For diagonally dominant and off-diagonally dominant block operator matrices, we show that the recently introduced quadratic numerical range W²(A) contains the eigenvalues of A and that the approximate point spectrum of A is contained in the closure of W²(A). This provides a new method to enclose the spectrum of unbounded block operator matrices by means of the non-convex set W²(A). Several examples illustrate that this spectral inclusion may be considerably tighter than the one by the usual numerical range or by perturbation theorems, both in the non-self-adjoint case and in the self-adjoint case. Applications to Dirac operators and to two-channel Hamiltonians are given.     

On extensions of the Bessel operator on a finite interval and a half-line

The minimum and maximum operators generated by a Bessel differential expression are studied. The boundary triplets for the maximum operator A _??,max are constructed, and the corresponding Weyl functions are found. All non-negative self-adjoint extensions of the minimum operator A _??,min are described.     

On symmetries in the theory of finite rank singular perturbations

For a nonnegative self-adjoint operator A₀ acting on a Hilbert space H singular perturbations of the form A₀+V, are studied under some additional requirements of symmetry imposed on the initial operator A₀ and the singular elements ψj. A concept of symmetry is defined by means of a one-parameter family of unitary operators U that is motivated by results due to R.S. Phillips. The abstract framework to study singular perturbations with symmetries developed in the paper allows one to incorporate physically meaningful connections between singular potentials V and the corresponding self-adjoint realizations of A₀+V. The results are applied for the investigation of singular perturbations of the Schrödinger operator in L₂(R³) and for the study of a (fractional) p-adic Schrödinger type operator with point interactions.     

Mourre's inequality and embedded bound states

A self-adjoint operator H with an eigenvalue λ embedded in the continuum spectrum is considered. Boundedness of all operators of the form AnP is proved, where P is the eigenprojection associated with λ and A is any self-adjoint operator satisfying Mourre's inequality in a neighborhood of λ and such that the higher commutators of H with A up to order n+2 are relatively bounded with respect to H.     

Left-definite theory with applications to orthogonal polynomials

In the past several years, there has been considerable progress made on a general left-definite theory associated with a self-adjoint operator A that is bounded below in a Hilbert space H; the term ‘left-definite’ has its origins in differential equations but Littlejohn and Wellman [L. L. Littlejohn, R. Wellman, A general left-definite theory for certain self-adjoint operators with applications to differential equations, J. Differential Equations, 181 (2) (2002) 280-339] generalized the main ideas to a general abstract setting. In particular, it is known that such an operator A generates a continuum {H_r}_r>0 of Hilbert spaces and a continuum of {A_r}_r>0 of self-adjoint operators. In this paper, we review the main theoretical results in [L. L. Littlejohn, R. Wellman, A general left-definite theory for certain self-adjoint operators with applications to differential equations, J. Differential Equations, 181 (2) (2002) 280-339]; moreover, we apply these results to several specific examples, including the classical orthogonal polynomials of Laguerre, Hermite, and Jacobi.     

Symmetric family of Fredholm operators of indices zero, stability of essential spectra and application to transport operators

In this paper, we prove that, if the product A=A₁?An is a Fredholm operator where the ascent and descent of A are finite, then Aj is a Fredholm operator of index zero for all j, 1?j?n, where A₁,…,An be a symmetric family of bounded operators. Next, we investigate a useful stability result for the Rako?evi?/Schmoeger essential spectra. Moreover, we show that some components of the Fredholm domains of bounded linear operators on a Banach space remain invariant under additive perturbations belonging to broad classes of operators A such as γ(Am)<1 where γ(⋅) is a measure of noncompactness. We also discuss the impact of these results on the behavior of the Rako?evi?/Schmoeger essential spectra. Further, we apply these latter results to investigate the Rako?evi?/Schmoeger essential spectra for singular neutron transport equations in bounded geometries.     

The generalized D’Alembert operator on compactified pseudo-Euclidean space

It is proved that the D’Alembert operator in ? ⁿ with multidimensional time, bordered by operators of multiplication by some function, and subject to an acceptance condition at infinity is a self-adjoint operator with discrete spectrum. The spectrum and eigenfunctions are explicitly described.     

Singular values, norms, and commutators

Let and X_i, i=1,…,n, be bounded linear operators on a separable Hilbert space such that X_i is compact for i=1,…,n. It is shown that the singular values of are dominated by those of , where ‖·‖ is the usual operator norm. Among other applications of this inequality, we prove that if A and B are self-adjoint operators such that a₁?A?a₂ and b₁?B?b₂ for some real numbers and b₂, and if X is compact, then the singular values of the generalized commutator AX-XB are dominated by those of max(b₂-a₁,a₂-b₁)(X⊕X). This inequality proves a recent conjecture concerning the singular values of commutators. Several inequalities for norms of commutators are also given.     

An unusual self-adjoint linear partial differential operator

In an American Mathematical Society Memoir, published in 2003, the authors Everitt and Markus apply their prior theory of symplectic algebra to the study of symmetric linear partial differential expressions, and the generation of self-adjoint differential operators in Sobolev Hilbert spaces. In the case when the differential expression has smooth coefficients on the closure of a bounded open region, in Euclidean space, and when the region has a smooth boundary, this theory leads to the construction of certain self-adjoint partial differential operators which cannot be defined by applying classical or generalized conditions on the boundary of the open region.

This present paper concerns the spectral properties of one of these unusual self-adjoint operators, sometimes called the ``Harmonic' operator.

The boundary value problems considered in the Memoir (see above) and in this paper are called regular in that the cofficients of the differential expression do not have singularities within or on the boundary of the region; also the region is bounded and has a smooth boundary. Under these and some additional technical conditions it is shown in the Memoir, and emphasized in this present paper, that all the self-adjoint operators considered are explicitly determined on their domains by the partial differential expression; this property makes a remarkable comparison with the case of symmetric ordinary differential expressions.

In the regular ordinary case the spectrum of all the self-adjoint operators is discrete in that it consists of a countable number of eigenvalues with no finite point of accumulation, and each eigenvalue is of finite multiplicity. Thus the essential spectrum of all these operators is empty.

This spectral property extends to the present partial differential case for the classical Dirichlet and Neumann operators but not to the Harmonic operator. It is shown in this paper that the Harmonic operator has an eigenvalue of infinite multiplicity at the origin of the complex spectral plane; thus the essential spectrum of this operator is not empty.

Both the weak and strong formulations of the Harmonic boundary value problem are considered; these two formulations are shown to be equivalent.

In the final section of the paper examples are considered which show that the Harmonic operator, defined by the methods of symplectic algebra, has a domain that cannot be determined by applying either classical or generalized local conditions on the boundary of the region.

     

Distribution of the spectrum of a singular positive Sturm–Liouville operator perturbed by the Dirac delta function

We consider the Sturm–Liouville operator generated in the space L ²[0,+∞) by the expression l _a,b:= ?d ²/dx ² +x+aδ(x?b) and the boundary condition y(0) = 0. We prove that the eigenvalues λ _n of this operator satisfy the inequalities λ₁ ⁰ < λ₁ < λ₂ ⁰ and λ_n ⁰ ≤ λ_n < λ_n+1 ⁰, n = 2, 3,..., where {?λ_n ⁰} is the sequence of zeros of the Airy function Ai (λ). We find the asymptotics of λ_n as n → +∞ depending on the parameters a and b.     

On the properties of a class of integral operators in the space Lp

In the spaceL _p (?),p > 1, we consider the operatorA=a? +bS? +cP? +T?, wherea(t), b(t), and c(t) are piecewise-continuous functions on the contour ?, T is a completely continuous operator, P?=1/2πi∫ ?(τ) dτ/? τ ?t ? 1, S?=1/gpi∫ ?(τ) dτ/? τ ? i, ? is a closed convex Lyapunov contour having no rectilinear portions. We study the properties of the operator P and we show that the Noether property conditions and the index of the operator A do not depend on the term cP.     

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 ∈ ?.     

Spectral asymptotic behavior of elliptic systems

One investigates a first-order elliptic self-adjoint pseudodifferential operator A (x,D) acting in sections of a Hermitian vector bundle over a compactn-dimensional manifold x. It is assumed that the principal symbol A(x, ξ) of the operator is locally diagonalizable and that its eigenvaluesaj(x, ξ) have a variable multiplicity and that {a _i,a _k}≠0 whenevera _i=a _k. Under indicated conditions one constructs an expansion of the fundamental solution of the hyperbolic system \(i\frac{{\partial u}}{{\partial t}} = A(x,D)u\) and one investigates the asymptotic properties of the spectrum of the operator A (x,D). For the distribution functionN(λ) of the eigenvalues one establishes that . Under further assumptions on the properties of the bicharacteristic of the symbolsaj(x, ξ) one establishes a stronger estimate of Duistermaat-Guillemin type:N(λ)=Cλ ⁿ +C′λ ^n?i +0(γ ^n?1 )     

Injectivity and operator spaces

Let B(H) be the bounded operators on a Hilbert space H. A linear subspace R ? B(H) is said to be an operator system if 1 ?R and R is self-adjoint. Consider the category $\text{b}$ of operator systems and completely positive linear maps. R ∈ $\text{C}$ is said to be injective if given A ? B, A, B ∈ $\text{C}$, each map A → R extends to B. Then each injective operator system is isomorphic to a conditionally complete C¹-algebra. Injective von Neumann algebras R are characterized by any one of the following: (1) a relative interpolation property, (2) a finite “projectivity” property, (3) letting M_m = B(C^m), each map R → N ? M_m has approximate factorizations R → M_n → N, (4) letting K be the orthogonal complement of an operator system N ? M_m, each map $\text{M}{}_{\mathrm{m}}\text{K}\text{→ R}$ has approximate factorizations $\text{M}{}_{\mathrm{m}}\text{K}\text{→ M}{}_{\mathrm{n}}\text{→ R}$. Analogous characterizations are found for certain classes of C¹-algebras.