Stability and convergence of product formulas for operator matrices (Q1946542)

The subject matter belongs to the the field of \textit{operator splitting,} where, under adequate assumptions, the semigroup \({\mathcal T}(t)\) generated by a sum \(\overline{{\mathcal A}_1 + {\mathcal A}_2}\) of infinitesimal generators is constructed directly from the semigroups \({\mathcal T}_1(t),\) \({\mathcal T}_2(t)\) generated by \({\mathcal A}_1,\) \({\mathcal A}_2.\) Three of these formulas are \[ \begin{align*}{ {\cal T}(t)u &= \lim_{n \to \infty} \Big({\cal T}_2\Big({t \over n}\Big) {\cal T}_1\Big({t \over n}\Big) \Big)^n u, \cr {\cal T}(t)u &= \lim_{n \to \infty} \Big({\cal T}_1\Big( {t \over 2n}\Big){\cal T}_2\Big({t \over n}\Big) {\cal T}_1\Big({t \over 2n}\Big) \Big)^n u, \cr {\cal T}(t)u &= \lim_{n \to \infty} \Big( {1 \over 2} {\cal T}_1\Big({t \over n}\Big) {\cal T}_2\Big({t \over n}\Big) + {1 \over 2} {\cal T}_2\Big({t \over n}\Big) {\cal T}_1\Big({t \over n}\Big) \Big)^n u }\end{align*}, \] the first a generalization by Trotter of Lie's finite dimensional formula, the second due to Strang, the third an example of \textit{weighted splitting.} The particular case considered in this paper is that where \(\mathcal A\) is a \(2 \times 2\) operator matrix in a product space \({\mathcal E} = E \times F\). The authors show that, under assumptions that imply that \({\mathcal A}\) generates a semigroup \({\mathcal T}(t)\) of \textit{upper triangular} form \(({\mathcal T}_{21}(t) = 0),\) \(\mathcal A\) can be written as a sum of two infinitesimal generators such that the splitting formulas hold. There are applications to inhomogeneous abstract Cauchy problems and boundary feedback systems.