A criterion for the boundedness from below with a class of symmetric operators and its applications (Q914131): Difference between revisions

For symmetric operators on \(L^ 2(M,\mu)\) (where (M,\(\mu\)) is an arbitrary measure space) of the form: \(H=\sum^{n}_{i=1}L^*_ jL_ j+V,\) where \(L_ j\) are closed operators and V a multiplication operator such that \(L^*_ jL_ j\) and V are defined on a common dense subspace D, sufficient conditions for boundedness from below on D are given in the form of a pointwise variational condition: one should find multiplication operators \(\Omega_ j\) and (real) \(\Psi\) such that \(\Psi (m)+V(m)\geq \lambda\) and for all \(f\in D\) \[ \int | f|^ 2\Psi d\mu \leq \sum_{j}(2 Re(L_ jf,\Omega_ jf)-\| \Omega_ jf\|^ 2); \] then \(H\geq \lambda\) on D. As a special case, it is shown that a ``nodeless'' eigenfunction of H corresponds to the lowest point of the spectrum. Various applications of interest for quantum mechanics are considered.