Spectral Properties of Hypoelliptic Operators

 We study hypoelliptic operators with polynomially bounded coefficients that are of the form K=∑ _i=1 ^m X _i ^T X _i +X ₀+f, where the X _j denote first order differential operators, f is a function with at most polynomial growth, and X _i ^T denotes the formal adjoint of X _i in L ². For any ɛ>0 we show that an inequality of the form ||u||_δ,δ≤C(||u||_0,ɛ+||(K+iy)u||_0,0) holds for suitable δ and C which are independent of yR, in weighted Sobolev spaces (the first index is the derivative, and the second the growth). We apply this result to the Fokker-Planck operator for an anharmonic chain of oscillators coupled to two heat baths. Using a method of Hérau and Nier HN02], we conclude that its spectrum lies in a cusp {x+iy|x≥|y|^τ−c,τ(0,1],cR}. Received: 30 July 2002 / Accepted: 18 October 2002 Published online: 25 February 2003 RID="*" ID="*" Present address: Mathematics Research Centre of the University of Warwick Communicated by A. Kupiainen