Characterizations of the reflection operators (Q1988589)

An operator \(P\) on a complex separable Hilbert space \(\mathcal{H}\) is called a reflection if \(P^*=P\) and \(P^2=I\). While reflection operators show behaviour quite similar to orthogonal projections, they are also known to have some special properties different from orthogonal projections, the latter being a motivation for the present study. Let us present a few sample results here. For nontrivial reflections \(P\) and \(Q\), set \(\mathcal{M}=\mathcal{R}(I+P)\) and \(\mathcal{N}=\mathcal{R}(I+Q)\), where \(\mathcal{R}\) and \(\mathcal{N}\) denote the range and the null spaces. Then \((P,Q)\) is called a regular pair of reflections if the four subspaces \(\mathcal{M} \cap \mathcal{N}\), \(\mathcal{M} \cap \mathcal{N}^{\perp}\), \(\mathcal{M}^{\perp} \cap \mathcal{N}\), and \(\mathcal{M}^{\perp} \cap \mathcal{N}^{\perp}\) are trivial. It is shown that, if \((P,Q)\) is a regular pair of reflections, then there is a simultaneous \(2 \times 2\) block operator representation for \(P\) and \(Q\) such that one of the operators has a very special block diagonal operator representation. One of the consequences is the result that \(\mathcal{R}(P+Q)\) is closed if and only if \(P+Q\) is invertible. Let us state a spectral result. Let \(P\) and \(Q\) be reflections. A~complex number \(\lambda\) belongs to the spectrum of \(PQ+QP\) if and only if there exists \(\mu\) in the spectrum of \(P-Q\) such that \(\lambda =2-{\mu}^2\); \(\lambda\) belongs to the spectrum of \(PQ-QP\) if and only if there exists \(\mu\) in the spectrum of \(P-Q\) such that \({\lambda}^2 ={\mu}^4-4{\mu}^2\).