A criterion for Hill operators to be spectral operators of scalar type (Q1042666)

Assume that \(V\) is a complex-valued function on \(\mathbb R\) that is \(\pi\)-periodic and locally \(L^2\) and let \[ H = - \frac{d^2}{dx^2} + V(x) \] be the corresponding Hill operator. The authors study the long-standing problem of finding criteria for \(H\) to be a spectral operator of scalar type. Recall that \(T\) is a spectral operator (in the sense of Dunford) in a Hilbert space \(\mathcal H\) if it possesses a spectral measure \(E_T(\cdot)\) (i.e., a homomorphism from the \(\sigma\)-algebra of Borel subsets of \(\mathbb C\) into the Boolean algebra of projection operators on \(\mathcal H\) that it bounded and satisfies \(E_T({\mathbb C})=I\)) such that, for every Borel set \(\omega\), \(E_T(\omega)\) commutes with \(T\) and the spectrum of the restriction of \(T\) onto \(E_T(\omega)\) is contained in the closure \(\overline{\omega}\) of \(\omega\). A spectral operator \(S\) is of scalar type if \[ S = \mathop{\text{s-lim}}_{n\uparrow \infty} \int_{|\lambda|\leq n} \lambda \,d E_S(\lambda); \] such operators are similar to normal ones. The authors give two criteria for the Hill operator~\(H\) to be spectral of scalar type. Denote by \(\theta(z,\,\cdot\,)\) and \(\varphi(z,\,\cdot\,)\) solutions of \(-\psi'' +V\psi = z^2\psi\) subject to the initial conditions \(\theta(z,0)= \varphi'(z,0) =1\) and \(\theta'(z,0)= \varphi(z,0) =0\) and set \(\Delta_\pm (z)= [\theta(z,\pi) \pm \varphi'(z,\pi)]/2\); then the triple~\(\Delta_+(z)\), \(\Delta_-(z)\) and \(\varphi(z,\pi)\) gives independent parameters for unique reconstruction of \(V\). The algebraic criterion (Theorem 3.5) states that \(H\) is a spectral operator of scalar type if and only if the function \[ \frac{\Delta_+(z)^2 - 1 - \Delta_-(z)^2}{\varphi(z,\pi)\frac{d}{dz}\Delta_+(z)} \] is analytic in an open neighbourhood of the spectrum~\(\sigma(H)\) of~\(H\) and the functions \[ \biggl|\frac{\varphi(z,\pi)}{\frac{d}{dz}\Delta_+(z)}\biggr| \qquad \text{and} \qquad \biggl|\frac{\Delta_-(z)}{(\sqrt{|z|}+1)\frac{d}{dz}\Delta_+(z)}\biggr| \] are uniformly bounded on~\(\sigma(H)\). The geometric criterion (Theorem 3.7) is formulated in terms of location of the critical points of \(\Delta_+\) and the Dirichlet, periodic and antiperiodic eigenvalues of \(H\) and also requires that all the eigenvalues of the operators \(H(t)\) that are restrictions of \(H\) onto \((0,\pi)\) subject to quasi-periodic conditions \(f(\pi) = e^{it}f(0)\) and \(f'(\pi) = e^{it}f'(0)\) should be semi-simple for all \(t\in[0,2\pi)\). The paper also contains detailed discussions of the results obtained and a historical review of the subject.