Subunit balls for symbols of pseudodifferential operators (Q1376316)

The author defines subunit balls for non-negative symbols in the class \(S^2(1\times M)\) of subelliptic pseudodifferential operators on \({\mathbb R}^n\), extending in phase-space, the definition given by \textit{A. Nagel, E.~M. Stein} and \textit{S. Wainger} [Acta Math. 155, 103-147 (1985; Zbl 0578.32044)] in the differential operator case. With the use of microlocal methods introduced by \textit{C.~L. Fefferman} and \textit{D.~H. Phong} [Commun. Pure Appl. Math. 34, 285-331 (1981; Zbl 0458.35099)], it is proved that these balls can be straightened, by means of a canonical transformation, to contain and be contained in boxes of certain sizes, which are given in terms of the size of the symbol. For \(n=1\) and for classes of, for instance, \(n=2\), one obtains a complete understanding of the non-Euclidean balls, which are comparable to rectangular boxes after a suitable canonical transformation. However, for \(n=2\), an example is given which exhibits a new phenomenon, called stratification, with no analogue for the differential operator case. Moreover, it is conjectured that, in the general case, the ball \(B_p((x,\xi),\rho)\) with radius \(\rho\) comparable to one of a bounded number of critical radii \(\rho_1,\ldots,\rho_N\), with \(N\) bounded \textit{a priori}, no longer looks like a box, and \(B_p((x,\xi),4\rho)\) is very large compared to \(B_p((x,\xi),\rho/4)\).