Integral transforms of vector measures on semigroups with applications to spectral operators (Q1204130)

Many moment problems, which include problems of characterization of classical integral transforms (e.g. Fourier, Laplace, Stieltjes, Poisson), fit into the following scheme. Given are locally compact Hausdorff spaces \(\Omega\) and \(\Gamma\) (with \(\Gamma\) usually a topological semigroup), an \(\mathbb{R}\) or \(\mathbb{C}\)-valued kernel \(K\) on \(\Omega \times \Gamma\), a locally convex Hausdorff space \(X\) (briefly, lcs) and a function \(f: \Gamma\to X\). The problem is whether there exists a regular vector measure \(m: {\mathcal B} (\Omega)\to X\) (where \({\mathcal B} (\Omega)\) are the Borel sets on \(\Omega\)) such that \[ f(\gamma)= \int_\Omega K(w, \gamma) dm(w), \qquad \gamma\in \Gamma, \tag{1} \] and, possibly, how to construct such a measure. For example, the choice \(\Omega= [0, \infty)\), \(\Gamma=(0,\infty)\) and \(K(w, \gamma)= \exp( -w\gamma)\), for \((w, \gamma)\in \Omega\times \Gamma\), leads to the problem of characterizing certain Laplace transforms. If \(\Omega= \Gamma= \mathbb{R}\) and \(K(w, \gamma)= \exp(i w\gamma)\), for \((w, \gamma)\in \Omega\times \Gamma\), we have the problem of Fourier-Stieltjes transforms. An important application of such characterizations arises in the theory of scalar-type spectral operators (briefly, scalar operators). Given a bounded operator \(T\) on a Banach space \(Y\), say, we choose for \(X\) the lcs \(L(Y)\) consisting of all continuous linear operators of \(Y\) into itself (equipped with the strong operator topology). Under appropriate conditions on \(T\) it is often possible to construct a suitable \(X\)-valued function \(f_T: \Gamma\to X\), where \(\Gamma\) is usually some ``natural'' semigroup containing \(\sigma (T)\), such that \(T\) is a scalar operator iff \(f_T\) is the \(K\)-transform (for an appropriate kernel \(K\)) of some spectral measure \(m: {\mathcal B} (\Omega)\to X\), that is, \(f_T\) is of the form (1). Of course, to ensure that \(m\) is a spectral measure, as distinct from general operator-valued measures, it is necessary that the kernel \(K: \Omega\times \Gamma\to \mathbb{C}\) satisfies certain algebraic criteria with respect to the semigroup \(\Gamma\). Many particular examples of the above set-up are well known; some of these will be listed in the sequel. The aim of this paper is to formulate an abstract framework which unifies the particular examples scattered about in the literature and which provides a systematic approach to the problem which they collectively encompass. It is hoped that the suggested framework is versatile enough to accommodate most of the important cases which occur in practice, but which is not too general to lose contact with ``real'' examples.