Scattering theory for Riemannian Laplacians (Q1948127)

The authors present scattering theory for the Laplace-Beltrami operator on a non-compact Riemannian manifold without imposing conditions on the metric at infinity; these results generalize to Schrödinger operators on manifolds with a short-range potential \(V\). The comparison dynamics which are used in the definition of the wave operator are constructed from a certain family of geodesics for the full metric -- they are nonperturbatively constructed. The authors impose several conditions: {Condition 1.1} There exists a relatively compact open set \(O\) of \(M\) with smooth boundary such that the exponential map restricted to outward normal vectors is a diffeomorphism from \(N^+(O)\) to \(M-\bar O\). { Condition 1.2} (Mourre type condition). There exists \(0<\delta\leq 1\) and \(r_0\geq0\) so that \(\nabla^2r^2\geq(1+\delta g)\) for \(r\geq r_0\). { Condition 1.3} (Quantum mechanics bound). There exists \(0<\kappa<1/2\) such that \(|d\Delta r^2|\leq C(r)^{-1/2-\kappa}\). { Condition 1.4} (Short range condition). The potential \(V\in L^\infty(M;R)\) satisfies \(|V(x)|\leq C(r)^{-1-\eta}\) for \(0<\eta\leq 1\). The authors also consider an ``extreme case'' replacing Condition 1.1 by the much stronger condition: { Condition 1.9} The manifold has a \textit{pole}, i.e. a point \(P\) of \(M\) so the exponential map \(\exp_P:TM_P\rightarrow M\) is a diffeomorphism. \medbreak Under these conditions, the authors construct a wave operator and exhibit various properties; they obtain the spectral theory for the Laplace-Beltrami operator including identification of the continuous spectrum and absence of singular continuous spectrum. These conditions are shown to be optimal for the existencee and completeness of a wave operator. Section 1 comprises the introduction. The uniqueness of the wave operator is discussed and manifolds with a pole are introduced (where Condition 1.1 is replaced by Condition 1.9). Section 2 deals with the geometric setting and treats borderline conditions and classical mechanics. Section 3 examines localization operators. The paper concludes in Section 4 by verifying properties of the localizing operators: commutator computations and perturbed dynamics.