Invertibility characterization of Wiener-Hopf plus Hankel operators via odd asymmetric factorizations (Q958855)

The paper is devoted to the invertibility and Fredholm criteria for the Wiener-Hopf plus Hankel operator \[ WH_\varphi:=\chi_+{\mathcal F}^{-1}\varphi{\mathcal F}(I+J): L^2(\mathbb{R}_+)\to L^2(\mathbb{R}_+), \] where \(\chi_+\) is the characteristic function of \(\mathbb{R}_+\), \({\mathcal F}\) is the Fourier transform, \(\varphi\in L^\infty(\mathbb{R})\), \(I\) is the identity operator, \(J\) is the reflection operator, \((Jf)(x)=f(-x)\) for \(x\in\mathbb{R}\), and the Lebesgue space \(L^2(\mathbb{R}_+)\) is identified with the subspace \(\chi_+L^2(\mathbb{R})\) of \(L^2(\mathbb{R})\). A function \(\varphi\in L^\infty(\mathbb{R})\) with \(1/\varphi\in L^\infty(\mathbb{R})\) is said to admit an odd asymmetric factorization in \(L^2(\mathbb{R})\) if it is represented in the form \[ \varphi(x)=\varphi_-(x)\left(\frac{x-i}{x+i}\right)^m\varphi_0(x),\quad x\in\mathbb{R}, \] where \(m\in\mathbb{Z}\) is the index of such a factorization, and {\parindent=8mm \begin{itemize}\item[(i)] \(\frac{x}{(x-i)^2} \varphi_-\in H_-^2(\mathbb{R}),\quad \frac{1}{(x-i)^2} \varphi_-^{-1}\in H_-^2(\mathbb{R});\) \item[(ii)] \(\frac{1}{x^2+1} \varphi_0\in L^2_{\text{odd}}(\mathbb{R}),\quad \frac{|x|}{x^2+1} \varphi_0^{-1}\in L^2_{\text{odd}}(\mathbb{R});\) \item[(iii)] the linear operator \(W_{\varphi_0^{-1}}^0(I-J)\chi_+W_{\varphi_-^{-1}}^0:L^2(\mathbb{R})\to L^2_{\text{even}}(\mathbb{R})\) is bounded. \end{itemize}} Here, \(W_{\varphi}^0={\mathcal F}^{-1}\varphi{\mathcal F}:L^2(\mathbb{R})\to L^2(\mathbb{R})\) is a convolution operator, the space \(H_-^2(\mathbb{R})= W_{\chi_+}^0 L^2(\mathbb{R})\) is identified with the corresponding Hardy space, \(L^2_{\text{odd}}(\mathbb{R})\) and \(L^2_{\text{even}}(\mathbb{R})\) are the spaces of odd and even functions in \(L^2(\mathbb{R})\), respectively. Main result: If \(\varphi\) is an invertible element in \(L^\infty(\mathbb{R})\), then the operator \(WH_\varphi\) is Fredholm on the space \(L^2(\mathbb{R}_+)\) if and only if \(\varphi\) admits an odd asymmetric factorization in \(L^2(\mathbb{R})\). In that case, \[ \dim\text{Ker}\,WH_\varphi=\max\{0,-m\},\quad \dim\text{Ker}\,WH^*_\varphi=\max\{0,m\}, \] where \(m\) is the index of an odd asymmetric factorization of \(\varphi\) in \(L^2(\mathbb{R})\). In particular, the operator \(WH_\varphi\) is invertible if it is Fredholm with zero index.