On the error estimate of the integral kernel for the Trotter product formula for Schrödinger operators (Q1381573)

Let \(A\) and \(B\) be two selfadjoint and bounded from below operators on a Hilbert space. Then the Trotter product formula provides a way to approximate, in the strong operator topology, the semigroup generated by \(C=A+B\). An interesting question is to estimate the speed of convergence of the Trotter approximations to the limiting semigroup generated by \(C\) in various norms. This problem has been recently an object of intense study for the case of \(A=-{1\over 2}\Delta\) and \(B\) corresponding to a potential bounded from below. This paper is a continuation of a paper by \textit{T. Ichinose} and the author [Commun. Math. Phys. 186, No. 1, 167-197 (1997)], where the rate of convergence of the integral kernels approximating the integral kernel of the limiting semigroup is estimated in \(L^p\)-norm. In the present paper assumptions on the potential are relaxed and Gaussian bounds on the differences of integral kernels are obtained. Then bounds on the rate of operator convergence follow as byproducts. The main tool for the proofs, similarly as in the paper quoted above, is the Feynman-Kac representation of the semigroup generated by \(C\) in terms of the pinned Brownian motion.