Spectral theory on the S-spectrum for quaternionic operators (Q1725960): Difference between revisions

Since the discovery of the \(S\)-spectrum, the literature related to the spectral theory based on this new notion of spectrum has been rapidly increasing. The first book that appeared in the literature on this topic was [\textit{F. Colombo} et al., Noncommutative functional calculus. Theory and applications of slice hyperholomorphic functions. Basel: Birkhäuser (2011; Zbl 1228.47001)], presenting the foundations of the spectral theory on the \(S\)-spectrum for quaternionic linear operators and for \(n\)-tuples of not necessarily commuting operators using slice hyperholomorphic functions with values in the quaternions and in a Clifford algebra, respectively. Since 2011, new functional calculi based on the \(S\)-spectrum have been introduced and the spectral theorem based on the \(S\)-spectrum for quaternionic bounded and unbounded normal operators was proved in [\textit{D. Alpay} et al., J. Math. Phys. 57, No. 2, 023503, 27 p. (2016; Zbl 1357.47022)]. A systematic and self-contained exposition of the quaternionic spectral theory on the \(S\)-spectrum, its applications and the main results on slice hyperholomorphic functions are contained in the present book and in its natural continuation [\textit{F. Colombo} and \textit{J. Gantner}, Quaternionic closed operators, fractional powers and fractional diffusion processes. Cham: Birkhäuser (2019; Zbl 1458.47001)]. For the sake of completeness, it has to be pointed out that Schur analysis has been extended to the slice hyperholomorphic setting and is well developed, see [\textit{D. Alpay} et al., Slice hyperholomorphic Schur analysis. Basel: Birkhäuser/Springer (2016; Zbl 1366.30001)] and the references therein. It is interesting to observe that quaternionic quantum mechanics was the main motivation to search for the \(S\)-spectrum, but hypercomplex analysis gives the methods to identify this spectrum. In fact, in [Ann. Math. (2) 37, 823--843 (1936; JFM 62.1061.04)], \textit{G. Birkhoff} and \textit{J. von Neumann} showed that quantum mechanics can be formulated over the real, the complex and the quaternionic numbers. Since then, several papers and books have treated this topic, however, it is interesting and somewhat surprising that an appropriate notion of spectrum for quaternionic linear operators was not presented in the literature. The way in which this spectrum, called the \(S\)-spectrum and the \(S\)-functional calculus were discovered in 2006 is well explained in the Introduction of this book. In classical operator theory, the holomorphic functional calculus, called Riesz-Dunford functional calculus, and the spectral theorem are based on the same notion of spectrum. In the quaternionic setting, things were different before the discovery of the \(S\)-spectrum, indeed: for quaternionic right linear operators with commuting components, the functional calculus based on the Cauchy-Fueter formula is based on the left spectrum. However, in quaternionic quantum mechanics physicists used the notion of right spectrum, which consists just of eigenvalues, and the spectral theorem for quaternionic normal matrices is also based on the right spectrum. The main intuition behind the identification of the precise notion of spectrum of a quaternionic linear operator is based on the following arguments of hypercomplex analysis. Denote by \(\mathbb{H}\) the set of quaternions, for \(s\in \mathbb{H}\) denote by \(\Re(s)\) the real part of \(s\) and by \(|s|\) its modulus. The crucial idea to determine the \(S\)-spectrum is to replace the quaternion \(q\), in the quaternionic slice hyperholomorphic Cauchy-kernel series \(\sum_{n=0}^\infty q^ns^{-1-n}\) (where \(q, s\in \mathbb{H}\) satisfy \(|q|<|s|\)) by the quaternionic bounded linear operator \(T:X\to X\), where \(X\) is a two-sided quaternionic Banach space. The closed formula for the formal power series \[ \sum_{n=0}^\infty T^ns^{-1-n} \] is obtained as follows. First compute the closed form for the series \(\sum_{n=0}^\infty q^ns^{-1-n}\), that is, \[ \sum_{n=0}^\infty q^ns^{-1-n}=-(q^2-2q \Re (s)+|s|^2)^{-1}(q-\overline{s}),\tag{1} \] where formula (1) holds for all quaternions \(q, s\in \mathbb{H}\) such that \(|q|<|s|\), and then observe that the right hand side of (1) does not depend on the commutativity of the components of the quaternion \(q\), because it contains just the powers of \(q\). From the above considerations, denoting by \(\mathcal{I}\) the identity operator, one has \[ \sum_{n=0}^\infty T^ns^{-1-n}=-(T^2-2T\Re (s)+|s|^2\mathcal{I})^{-1}(T-\overline{s}\mathcal{I}) \] for \(\|T\|<|s|\). Thus the natural definition of the left \(S\)-resolvent operator turns out to be \[ S_L^{-1}(s,T):=-(T^2-2T\Re (s)+|s|^2\mathcal{I})^{-1}(T-\overline{s}\mathcal{I})\tag{2} \] for \(s\in \mathbb{H}\) such that \((T^2-2T\Re (s)+|s|^2\mathcal{I})^{-1}\in \mathcal{B}(X)\), where \(\mathcal{B}(X)\) is the space of bounded linear quaternionic operators on \(X\). From the above considerations, the definition of \(S\)-spectrum turns out to be \[ \sigma_S(T)=\{ s\in \mathbb{H}: T^2-2 T\Re (s)+|s|^2\mathcal{I} \text{ is not invertible in }\mathcal{B}(X)\}. \] It is also interesting to note that in 2006, when (2) was introduced, the Cauchy formula with slice hyperholomorphic Cauchy-kernel was not known, and the sum of the series (1) was obtained using the Niven algorithm. The present book considers four main topics: the \(S\)-functional calculus, the \(F\)-functional calculus, the quaternionic spectral theorem and the theory of quaternionic spectral operators. More precisely, the \(S\)-functional calculus is the natural extension to the quaternionic setting of the Riesz-Dunford functional calculus and it can be used to define the quaternionic \(H^\infty\)-functional calculus for quaternionic or vector sectorial operators. The \(H^\infty\)-functional calculus has important applications in fractional diffusion processes because it allows to define fractional powers of vector operators such as the gradient or a generalization of the gradient operator with non-constant coefficients. The \(F\)-functional calculus is based on an integral transform, called the Fueter-Sce mapping theorem in integral form, and it defines Fueter-regular functions of quaternionic operators. This calculus is based on slice hyperholomorphic functions and on the so called \(F\)-resolvent operators that allow to define, via an integral formula, Fueter-regular functions of a quaternionic operator. The spectral theorem for quaternionic normal operators based on the \(S\)-spectrum is one of the main results of this book and the case of unbounded anti-selfadjoint operators is a very important tool to formulate quaternionic quantum mechanics. Finally, this book examines the theory of spectral integration in the quaternionic setting and spectral operators in quaternionic Banach spaces. Since the book covers several topics and comments on operator theory as well as on the hyperholomorphic function theories, which can be of independent interest, we give the detailed list of the chapters and sections. Finally, we observe that extended comments, remarks and historical notes are given at the end of most of the chapters, which should be very useful in providing orientation to the reader. Chapter 1 (Introduction): What is quaternionic spectral theory, Some historical remarks on the \(S\)-spectrum, The discovery of the \(S\)-spectrum, Why so long time to understand the \(S\)-spectrum, The Fueter-Sce-Qian theorem and spectral theories. Chapter 2 (Slice hyperholomorphic functions): Slice hyperholomorphic functions, The Fueter mapping theorem in integral form, Vector-valued slice hyperholomorphic functions, Comments and remarks. Chapter 3 (The \(S\)-spectrum and the \(S\)-functional calculus): The \(S\)-spectrum and the \(S\)-resolvent operators, Definition of the \(S\)-functional calculus, Comments and remarks: The left spectrum \(\sigma_L(T)\) and the left resolvent operator, Power series expansions and the \(S\)-resolvent equation. Chapter 4 (Properties of the \(S\)-functional calculus for bounded operators): Algebraic properties and Riesz-projectors, The Spectral Mapping Theorem and the Composition Rule, Convergence in the \(S\)-resolvent sense, The Taylor formula for the \(S\)-functional calculus, Bounded operators with commuting components, Perturbations of the SC-resolvent operators, Some examples, Comments and remarks: The \(S\)-functional calculus for \(n\)-tuples of operators, The \(W\)-functional calculus for quaternionic operators. Chapter 5 (The \(S\)-functional calculus for unbounded operators): The \(S\)-spectrum and the \(S\)-resolvent operators, Definition of the \(S\)-functional calculus, Comments and remarks. Chapter 6 (The \(H^\infty\)-functional calculus): The rational functional calculus, The \(S\)-functional calculus for operators of type \(\omega\), The \(H^\infty\)-functional calculus, Boundedness of the \(H^\infty\)-functional calculus, Comments and remarks: Comments on fractional diffusion processes. Chapter 7 (The \(F\)-functional calculus for bounded operators): The \(F\)-resolvent operators and the \(F\)-functional calculus, Bounded perturbations of the \(F\)-resolvent, The \(F\)-resolvent equations, The Riesz projectors for the \(F\)-functional calculus, The Cauchy-Fueter functional calculus, Comments and remarks: The \(F\)-functional calculus for $n$-tuples of operators, The inverse Fueter-Sce mapping theorem. Chapter 8 (The \(F\)-functional calculus for unbounded operators): Relations between \(F\)-resolvent operators, The \(F\)-functional calculus for unbounded operators, Comments and remarks: \(F\)-functional calculus for $n$-tuples of unbounded operators. Chapter 9 (Quaternionic operators on a Hilbert space): Preliminary results, The \(S\)-spectrum of some classes of operators, The splitting of a normal operator and consequences, The continuous functional calculus, Comments and remarks. Chapter 10 (Spectral integrals): Spectral integrals for bounded measurable functions, Spectral integrals for unbounded measurable functions, Comments and remarks. Chapter 11 (The spectral theorem for bounded normal operators): Construction of the spectral measure, The spectral theorem and some consequences, Comments and remarks. Chapter 12 (The spectral theorem for unbounded normal operators): Some transformations of operators, The spectral theorem for unbounded normal operators, Some consequences of the spectral theorem, Comments and remarks. Chapter 13 (Spectral theorem for unitary operators): Herglotz's theorem in the quaternionic setting, Preliminaries for the spectral resolution, Further properties of quaternionic Riesz projectors, The spectral resolution, Comments and remarks Chapter 14 (Spectral Integration in the Quaternionic Setting): Spectral integrals of real-valued slice functions, Imaginary operators, Spectral systems and spectral integrals of intrinsic slice functions, On the different approaches to spectral integration. Chapter 15 (Bounded Quaternionic Spectral Operators): The spectral decomposition of a spectral operator, Canonical reduction and \(S\)-functional calculus.