The Morse and Maslov indices for Schrödinger operators (Q1661303)

This paper deals with the spectrum of Schrödinge operators with matrix-valued potentials by using a functional-analytic approach and tools from infinite-dimensional symplectic geometry. More precisely, if \(A\) is a symmetric operator in the Hilbert space \(H\), then \(\text{dom}(A^*)/\text{dom}(A)\) can be equipped with a natural symplectic structure which is called the space of abstract boundary values. It is assumed that the selfadjoint extension of \(A\) in \(H\) has a compact resolvent, and that \(V_t:[0,1]\to B(H)\) is certain differentiable family of bounded selfadjoint operators. The main aim of the first part of this paper is to find the Morse index \(M(A+V_t)\) and to write down several relations between it and the Maslov index. The abstract results are applied to Schrödinger operators with \(\theta\)-periodic, Dirichlet and Neumann boundary conditions. An analogue of the Morse-Smale index theorem for the Schrödinger operator with periodic potentials is proved in Theorems 3.10 and 3.12. For a class of quasi-convex domains in \(\mathbb{R}^n\) a symplectomorphism is constructed between the space of abstract boundary values and the Sobolev-type boundary space \((N^{1/2}(\partial\Omega))^*\times N^{1/2}(\partial\Omega)\). This way the authors recast results, connecting Morse and Maslov indices using the Dirichlet and Neumann traces on the boundary \(\partial\Omega\).