Boundary relations, unitary colligations, and functional models (Q1024742)

Recently, \textit{V.\,Derkach, S.\,Hassi, M.\,Malamud} and \textit{H.\,De Snoo} [Trans.\ Am.\ Math.\ Soc.\ 358, No.\,12, 5351--5400 (2006; Zbl 1123.47004), Russ.\ J.\ Math.\ Phys.\ 16, No.\,1, 17--60 (2009; Zbl 1182.47026)] have introduced new notions of boundary relations and the corresponding Weyl families. Let \(S\) be a closed symmetric relation in a Hilbert space \(\mathfrak{H}\) and let \(\mathcal{H}\) be an auxiliary Hilbert space. A linear relation \(\Gamma\) from \(\mathfrak{H}^2=\mathfrak{H}\times\mathfrak{H}\) to \(\mathcal{H}^2=\mathcal{H}\times\mathcal{H}\) is said to be a boundary relation for \(S^*\) if (i) \(\mathcal{T}=\text{dom}\,\Gamma\) is dense in \(S^*\) and the identity \((f',g)_{\mathfrak{H}}-(f,g')_{\mathfrak{H}}=(h',k)_{\mathcal{H}}-(h,k')_{\mathcal{H}}\) holds for every \(\{\hat{f},\hat{h}\}\), \(\{\hat{g},\hat{k}\}\in\Gamma\), where \(\hat{f}=\{f,f'\}\), \(\hat{g}=\{g,g'\}\in\mathfrak{H}^2\) and \(\hat{h}=\{h,h'\}\), \(\hat{k}=\{k,k'\}\in\mathcal{H}^2\); (ii) if \(\{\hat{g},\hat{k}\}\in\mathfrak{H}^2\times\mathcal{H}^2\) satisfies the identity in part (i) for every \(\{\hat{f},\hat{h}\}\in\Gamma\), then \(\{\hat{g},\hat{k}\}\in\Gamma\). The Weyl family associated to a boundary relation \(\Gamma\) is the abstract analogue of the classical Titchmarsh-Weyl coefficient or \(m\)-function in Sturm-Liouville theory, and is defined as follows. The Weyl family \(M(\lambda)\), \(\lambda\in\mathbb{C}\setminus\mathbb{R}\), of \(S\) corresponding to the boundary relation \(\Gamma:\mathfrak{H}^2\to\mathcal{H}^2\) is defined by \(M(\lambda)=\{\hat{h}\in\mathcal{H}^2:\{\hat{f}_\lambda,\hat{h}\}\in\Gamma\text{ for\;some } \hat{f}_\lambda=\{f_\lambda,\lambda f_\lambda\}\in\mathcal{H}^2\}\). If the values of \(M(\lambda)\), \(\lambda\in\mathbb{C}\setminus\mathbb{R}\), are operators in \(\mathcal{H}\), then one speaks of a Weyl function instead of a Weyl family. It follows directly from the definition that a Weyl family is a Nevanlinna family, that is, a holomorphic relation-valued function symmetric about the real line and whose values on \(\mathbb{C}_+\) (\(\mathbb{C}_-\)) are maximal dissipative (maximal accumulative, respectively) linear relations. Conversely, it was shown in Derkach et al.\ [loc.\,cit.] with the use of the Naimark dilation theorem that each Nevanlinna family can be realized as a Weyl family of some boundary relation in an abstract model space. In the paper under review, a new approach to boundary relations and their Weyl families is presented. The main idea is that the Weyl family \(M(\lambda)\) and a certain selfadjoint relation \(\tilde{A}\) in \(\mathfrak{H}\times\mathcal{H}\) induced by the boundary relation \(\Gamma:\mathfrak{H}^2\to\mathcal{H}^2\) are connected via the Cayley transform with an operator-valued Schur-class function \(\Theta\) in \(\mathcal{H}\) and a unitary colligation \(U\) in \(\mathfrak{H}\times\mathcal{H}\) with \(\Theta\) as the corresponding transfer function. As a consequence, various subclasses of Nevanlinna families are described and the functional model of Nevanlinna families is constructed from the de Branges-Rovnyak functional model of Schur-class functions.