Spectral Estimates for Resolvent Differences of Self-Adjoint Elliptic Operators

The concept of quasi boundary triples and Weyl functions from extension theory of symmetric operators in Hilbert spaces is developed further and spectral estimates for resolvent differences of two self-adjoint extensions in terms of general operator ideals are proved. The abstract results are applied to self-adjoint realizations of second order elliptic differential operators on bounded and exterior domains, and partial differential operators with δ-potentials supported on hypersurfaces are studied.     

Harmonic Analysis on Chord Arc Domains

In the present paper we study the solvability of the Dirichlet problem for second order divergence form elliptic operators with bounded measurable coefficients which are small perturbations of given operators in rough domains beyond the Lipschitz category. In our approach, the development of the theory of tent spaces on these domains is essential.     

The Morse and Maslov indices for Schrödinger operators

We study the spectrum of Schrödinger operators with matrixvalued potentials, utilizing tools from infinite-dimensional symplectic geometry. Using the spaces of abstract boundary values, we derive relations between the Morse and Maslov indices for a family of operators on a Hilbert space obtained by perturbing a given self-adjoint operator by a smooth family of bounded self-adjoint operators. The abstract results are applied to the Schrödinger operators with θ-periodic, Dirichlet, and Neumann boundary conditions. In particular, we derive an analogue of the Morse-Smale Index Theorem for multi-dimensional Schrödinger operators with periodic potentials. For quasi-convex domains in Rⁿ, we recast the results, connecting the Morse and Maslov indices using the Dirichlet and Neumann traces on the boundary of the domain.     

General spectral flow formula for fixed maximal domain

We consider a continuous curve of linear elliptic formally self-adjoint differential operators of first order with smooth coefficients over a compact Riemannian manifold with boundary together with a continuous curve of global elliptic boundary value problems. We express the spectral flow of the resulting continuous family of (unbounded) self-adjoint Fredholm operators in terms of the Maslov index of two related curves of Lagrangian spaces. One curve is given by the varying domains, the other by the Cauchy data spaces. We provide rigorous definitions of the underlying concepts of spectral theory and symplectic analysis and give a full (and surprisingly short) proof of our General Spectral Flow Formula for the case of fixed maximal domain. As a side result, we establish local stability of weak inner unique continuation property (UCP) and explain its role for parameter dependent spectral theory. This work was supported in part by The Danish Science Research Council, SNF grant 21-02-0446. The second author is partially supported by FANEDD 200215, 973, Program of MOST, Fok Ying Tung Edu. Funds 91002, LPMC of MOE of China, and Nankai University.     

Regularity Criteria for the Generalized MHD Equations

For Sobolev spaces in Lipschitz domains with no imposed boundary conditions, the Aronszajn–Smith theorem algebraically characterizes coercive formally positive integro-differential quadratic forms. Recently, linear elliptic differential operators with formally positive forms have been constructed with the property that no formally positive forms for these operators can be coercive in any bounded domain. In the present article 4th order operators of this kind are shown by perturbation to have coercive forms that are (necessarily) algebraically indefinite. The perturbation here from noncoercive formally positive forms to coercive algebraically indefinite forms requires Agmon's characterization of coerciveness in smoother domains than Lipschitz.     

Spectral problems in Lipschitz domains

The paper is devoted to spectral problems for strongly elliptic second-order systems in bounded Lipschitz domains. We consider the spectral Dirichlet and Neumann problems and three problems with spectral parameter in conditions at the boundary: the Poincaré–Steklov problem and two transmission problems. In the style of a survey, we discuss the main properties of these problems, both self-adjoint and non-self-adjoint. As a preliminary, we explain several facts of the general theory of the main boundary value problems in Lipschitz domains. The original definitions are variational. The use of the boundary potentials is based on results on the unique solvability of the Dirichlet and Neumann problems. In the main part of the paper, we use the simplest Hilbert L ₂-spaces H _s , but we describe some generalizations to Banach spaces H ^s _p of Bessel potentials and Besov spaces B ^s _p at the end of the paper.     

Fractional powers of operators corresponding to coercive problems in Lipschitz domains

Let Ω be a bounded Lipschitz domain in ? ⁿ , n ? 2, and let L be a second-order matrix strongly elliptic operator in Ω written in divergence form. There is a vast literature dealing with the study of domains of fractional powers of operators corresponding to various problems (beginning with the Dirichlet and Neumann problems) with homogeneous boundary conditions for the equation Lu = f, including the solution of the Kato square root problem, which arose in 1961. Mixed problems and a class of problems for higher-order systems have been covered as well. We suggest a new abstract approach to the topic, which permits one to obtain the results that we deem to be most important in a much simpler and unified way and cover new operators, namely, classical boundary operators on the Lipschitz boundary Γ = ?Ω or part of it. To this end, we simultaneously consider two well-known operators associated with the boundary value problem.     

Estimates on Green functions and Schrödinger-type equations for non-symmetric diffusions with measure-valued drifts

In this paper, we establish sharp two-sided estimates for the Green functions of non-symmetric diffusions with measure-valued drifts in bounded Lipschitz domains. As consequences of these estimates, we get a 3G type theorem and a conditional gauge theorem for these diffusions in bounded Lipschitz domains.Informally the Schrödinger-type operators we consider are of the form L+μ⋅∇+ν where L is a uniformly elliptic second order differential operator, μ is a vector-valued signed measure belonging to Kd,1 and ν is a signed measure belonging to Kd,2. In this paper, we establish two-sided estimates for the heat kernels of Schrödinger-type operators in bounded C1,1-domains and a scale invariant boundary Harnack principle for the positive harmonic functions with respect to Schrödinger-type operators in bounded Lipschitz domains.     

An Inverse Problem of Calderón Type with Partial Data

A generalized variant of the Calderón problem from electrical impedance tomography with partial data for anisotropic Lipschitz conductivities is considered in an arbitrary space dimension n ≥ 2. The following two results are shown: (i) The selfadjoint Dirichlet operator associated with an elliptic differential expression on a bounded Lipschitz domain is determined uniquely up to unitary equivalence by the knowledge of the Dirichlet-to-Neumann map on an open subset of the boundary, and (ii) the Dirichlet operator can be reconstructed from the residuals of the Dirichlet-to-Neumann map on this subset.     

A characterization of the eigenvalues of Schrödinger operators with Dirichlet and Neumann boundary conditions

The eigenvalues of the self-adjoint Schrödinger operators on a bounded domain with Dirichlet and Neumann boundary conditions are characterized by the singularities of an associated Dirichlet-to-Neumann map and its inverse, respectively. (© 2010 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Square roots of elliptic second order divergence operators on strongly Lipschitz domains: $L^p$ theory

We study estimates for square roots of second order elliptic non necessarily selfadjoint operators in divergence form on Lipschitz domains subject to Dirichlet or to Neumann boundary conditions, pursuing our work [4] where we considered operators on . We obtain among other things for all if L is real symmetric and the domain bounded, which is new for . We also obtain similar results for perturbations of constant coefficients operators. Our methods rely on a singular integral representation, Calderón-Zygmund theory and quadratic estimates. A feature of this study is the use of a commutator between the resolvent of the Laplacian (Dirichlet and Neumann) and partial derivatives which carries the geometry of the boundary. Received: 12 January 2000 / Published online: 4 May 2001     

Inverse Hyperbolic Problems with Time-Dependent Coefficients

We consider the inverse problem for the second order self-adjoint hyperbolic equation in a bounded domain in R ⁿ with lower order terms depending analytically on the time variable. We prove that, assuming the BLR condition, the time-dependent Dirichlet-to-Neumann operator prescribed on a part of the boundary uniquely determines the coefficients of the hyperbolic equation up to a diffeomorphism and a gauge transformation. As a by-product we prove a similar result for the nonself-adjoint hyperbolic operator with time-independent coefficients.     

The dirichlet problem in lipschitz domains for higher order elliptic systems with rough coefficients

We study the Dirichlet problem, in Lipschitz domains and with boundary data in Besov spaces, for divergence form strongly elliptic systems of arbitrary order with bounded, complex-valued coefficients. A sharp corollary of our main solvability result is that the operator of this problem performs an isomorphism between weighted Sobolev spaces when its coefficients and the unit normal of the boundary belong to the space VMO.     

Spectral boundary value problems in Lipschitz domains for strongly elliptic systems in Banach spaces H p σ and B p σ

In a bounded Lipschitz domain, we consider a strongly elliptic second-order equation with spectral parameter without assuming that the principal part is Hermitian. For the Dirichlet and Neumann problems in a weak setting, we prove the optimal resolvent estimates in the spaces of Bessel potentials and the Besov spaces. We do not use surface potentials. In these spaces, we derive a representation of the resolvent as a ratio of entire analytic functions with sharp estimates of their growth and prove theorems on the completeness of the root functions and on the summability of Fourier series with respect to them by the Abel-Lidskii method. Preliminarily, such questions for abstract operators in Banach spaces are discussed. For the Steklov problem with spectral parameter in the boundary condition, we obtain similar results. We indicate applications of the resolvent estimates to parabolic problems in a Lipschitz cylinder. We also indicate generalizations to systems of equations. __________ Translated from Funktsional’nyi Analiz i Ego Prilozheniya, Vol. 42, No. 4, pp. 2–23, 2008 Original Russian Text Copyright ? by M. S. Agranovich To dear Israel Moiseevich Gelfand in connection with his 95th birthday Supported by RFBR grant no. 07-01-00287.     

Regular boundary value problems for complete second order elliptic differential-operator equations in UMD Banach spaces

We consider coerciveness and Fredholmness of nonlocal boundary value problems for complete second order elliptic differential-operator equations in UMD Banach spaces. In some special cases, the main coefficients of the boundary conditions may be bounded operators and not only complex numbers. Then, we prove an isomorphism, in particular, maximal L _p -regularity, of the problem with a linear parameter in the equation. In both cases, the boundary conditions may also contain unbounded operators in perturbation terms. Finally, application to regular nonlocal boundary value problems for elliptic equations of the second order in non-smooth domains are presented. Equations and boundary conditions may contain differential-integral parts. The spaces of solvability are Sobolev type spaces W _p,q ^2,2. The first author is a member of G.N.A.M.P.A. and the paper fits the 60% research program of G.N.A.M.P.A.-I.N.D.A.M.; The third author was supported by the Israel Ministry of Absorption.     

Multigrid method for coupled semilinear elliptic equation

This paper introduces a kind of multigrid finite element method for the coupled semilinear elliptic equations. Instead of the common way of directly solving the coupled semilinear elliptic problems on some fine spaces, the presented method transforms the solution of the coupled semilinear elliptic problem into a series of solutions of the corresponding decoupled linear boundary value problems on the sequence of multilevel finite element spaces and some coupled semilinear elliptic problems on a very low dimensional space. The decoupled linearized boundary value problems can be solved by some multigrid iterations efficiently. The optimal error estimate and optimal computational work are proved theoretically and demonstrated numerically. Moreover, the requirement of bounded second‐order derivatives of the nonlinear term in the existing multigrid method is reduced to a Lipschitz continuous condition in the proposed method.     

Strict inequality of Robin eigenvalues for elliptic differential operators on Lipschitz domains

On a bounded Lipschitz domain we consider two selfadjoint operator realizations of the same second order elliptic differential expression subject to Robin boundary conditions, where the coefficients in the boundary conditions are functions. We prove that inequality between these functions on the boundary implies strict inequality between the eigenvalues of the two operators, provided that the inequality of the functions in the boundary conditions is strict on an arbitrarily small nonempty, open set.     

The Poisson problem with mixed boundary conditions in Sobolev and Besov spaces in non-smooth domains

We introduce certain Sobolev-Besov spaces which are particularly well adapted for measuring the smoothness of data and solutions of mixed boundary value problems in Lipschitz domains. In particular, these are used to obtain sharp well-posedness results for the Poisson problem for the Laplacian with mixed boundary conditions on bounded Lipschitz domains which satisfy a suitable geometric condition introduced by R.Brown in (1994). In this context, we obtain results which generalize those by D.Jerison and C.Kenig (1995) as well as E.Fabes, O.Mendez and M.Mitrea (1998). Applications to Hodge theory and the regularity of Green operators are also presented.