The Weiss conjecture and weak norms (Q1935528)

The paper deals with the map \[ x_0 \to y(\cdot), \eqno(1) \] where \(x_0\) is the initial condition in the problem \[ x'(t) + Ax(t) = 0 \;(t > 0) \, , \quad x(0) = x_0, \] with \(-A\) the infinitesimal generator of a strongly continuous semigroup in a Banach space \(X.\) The map (1) is defined by \(y(t) = Cx(t)\), where \(C\) is a (generally unbounded) operator from \(X\) into another Banach space \(Y;\) the usual standing assumption on \(C\) is boundedness from \(D(A)\) (equipped with the graph norm) into \(Y.\) The question under study here is motivated by control theory, where \(y(t)\) is the \textit{observation} of the system; given a space \(\mathcal Y\) of \(Y\)-valued functions in \(t \geq 0\), find conditions on \(A, C\) that make the map (1) continuous from \(x_0\) to \(\mathcal Y\) (the ``natural'' candidate is \({\mathcal Y} = L^2(0, \infty; Y)\) at least when \(Y\) is Hilbert, but other spaces may be used). The assumptions on \(A, C\) in this paper are: \(A\) generates an analytic semigroup \(S(t)\) and the \textit{Weiss condition} \[ \|C(\lambda + A)^{-1}\|_{B(X, Y)} \leq {c \over \sqrt{\text{Re} \, \lambda}} \quad (\text{Re} \, \lambda > 0) \eqno(2) \] is satisfied. The author quotes a result of Le Merdy to the effect that (2) plus boundedness of the semigroup and the additional requirement that \(A\) admit upper square function estimates makes (1) continuous with \({\mathcal Y} = L^2(0, \infty; Y).\) The last requirement on \(A\) cannot be dropped, thus the question is: what can be proved in absence of upper square function estimates, that is on the only basis of (2)? The author gives a complete ``if-and-only-if'' answer to this question as follows. For an exponentially stable analytic semigroup, the following statements are equivalent: \((a)\) The Weiss condition (2), \((b)\) the inequality \(\|CS(t)x\|_Y \leq k \|x\|_X / \sqrt t \;(t > 0),\) and \((c)\) continuity of the map (1) with \({\mathcal Y} = L^{2, \infty}(0, \infty; Y),\) where the \(L^{p, q}(0, \infty; Y)\) are the Lorentz spaces.