Reflectionless canonical systems. I: Arov gauge and right limits (Q2070298)

This is the study of a canonical system of \(2\times 2\) transfer functions \(\mathcal{A}(z,t)\) with complex variable \(z\) and real parameter \(t\). It is \(j\)-monotonic for the metric \(j=(-1)\oplus 1\), meaning that by stripping \(t_1<t_2\) in the parameter by \(\mathcal{A}(z,t_1)^{-1}\mathcal{A}(z,t_2)\) gives a \(j\)-inner result. The Arov gauge is assumed, meaning that \(\mathcal{A}(z,t)\) is lower triangular with positive diagonal elements. Depending on the parameter \(t\) one may associate Weyl disks (subsets of the unit disc) that converge for \(t\to\infty\) (right limit) to a disk (possibly with radius zero) which describes all the associated Schur functions \(s_+(z)\). The reflected system is \(\mathcal{A}(z,t)=j_1\mathcal{A}(z,-t)j_1\) where \(j_1\) interchances row and column order. The Schur functions for the reflected system are \(s_-(z)\). Reflectionless on \(E\) means \(\overline{s_+(\xi+i0)}=s_-(\xi+i0)\), a.e.\ \(\xi\in E\) which corresponds to some pseudocontinuation between the two Schur functions and to an almost periodicity of the system, i.e.\ with respect to the parameter \(t\). This theory is explained as a continuous (in \(t\)) analog of the Schur theory classically introduced for integer \(t\). A connection is given with another gauge (Potapov-de Branges gauge), the Riccati equation (parameter stripping), and the exponential type of the transfer function. Several classical theorems are reformulated and proved for the present setting. In part II of the paper [\textit{R. Bessonov}, et al. ``Reflectionless canonical systems. II: Almost periodicity and character-automorphic Fourier transforms'', Preprint, \url{arXiv:2011.05266}], a different approach to this theory is given.