Difference estimates for continuous and discrete operator semigroups

For suitable bounded operator semigroups (e ^tA ) _t≥0 in a Banach space, we characterize the estimate ‖Ae ^tA ‖≤c/F(t) for large t, where F is a function satisfying a sublinear growth condition. The characterizations are by holomorphy estimates on the semigroup, and by estimates on powers of the resolvent. We give similar characterizations of the difference estimate ‖T ⁿ −T ⁿ⁺¹‖≤c/F(n) for a power-bounded linear operator T, when F(n) grows faster than n ^1/2 for large n.