Spectral properties of some complex Jacobi matrices (Q2307683)

The main object under consideration in the paper is a complex, symmetric Jacobi matrix \(A=J(\{b_j\}_{j\ge0}, \{a_j\}_{j\ge0})\) with arbitrary complex entries \(\{b_j\}\) along the main diagonal, and nonzero, complex entries \(\{a_j\}\) off the main diagonal. Such a matrix generates a pair of linear operators \(A_{\min}\) and \(A_{\max}\) in a standard way. \(A\) is called proper if \(A_{\min}=A_{\max}\), and improper otherwise. Let \(N\) be a positive integer and \(i\in\{0,1,\ldots,N-1\}\). The standing assumption on \(\{a_j\}\) is \[ \lim_{n\to\infty}\frac{a_{nN+i-1}}{|a_{nN+i-1}|}=\gamma, \quad \lim_{n\to\infty}\frac{a_{nN+i-1}}{a_{(n+1)N+i-1}}=1 \] for some \(i\) and complex \(\gamma\). The author denotes by \(X_n(z)\) the \(N\)-step transfer matrix and introduces a compact set \(K\subset\mathbb{C}\) so that the limit \[ \lim_{n\to\infty} Y_n(z)=X(z), \qquad Y_n(z):=X_{nN+i}(z), \] exists and is an invertible \(2\times 2\) matrix function with negative discriminant. The main result of the paper is the following. Theorem. Let \[ \sum_{n\ge1} \sup_{z\in K}\|Y_{n+1}(z)-\overline{Y_n(z)}\|<\infty. \] Then \(A\) is proper and \(K\subset \sigma(A)\backslash\sigma_p(A)\) as long as \(\sum_n |a_{nN+i-1}|^{-1}=\infty\). Conversely, if \(\sum_n |a_{n}|^{-1}<\infty\) and the hypothesis holds for each \(i\), then \(A\) is improper, \(\sigma(A_{\min})=\sigma_p(A_{\max})=\mathbb{C}\), and \(\sigma_{\mathrm{ess}}(A_{\min})=\emptyset\).