Schrödinger operator with Morse potential and zeros of the Riemann zeta function (Q2113434)

Let \(\nu>0\) be such that \(\frac{1}{2}+i\nu\) is a simple zero of Riemann's \(\zeta\) function and \[ Z :=\left\{\lambda\mid\text{Re\,}\lambda>0,\ \left(\frac{1}{2}+ i\lambda\right)=0\right\}\setminus\{\nu\}. \] (Recall that \(Z\) is a subset of the real line iff the Riemann hypothesis is true.) Let \(a:=-2\pi\) and \(X:=[\log(-2a),\infty)\). The author considers in \(L^2(X)\) the self-adjoint operator defined by \[ Q_{\pm\frac{1}{2}}u:= -u''+\left(\frac{1}{4}e^{2x}\pm\frac{1}{2} e^x\right) \] and a boundary condition at \(\log(-2a)\) such that zero is not an eigenvalue (note that the spectrum is purely discrete and simple). With a very brief sketch of proof he announces the following Theorem: There exists a rank-one perturbation of \((Q_{\pm\frac{1}{2}})^{-1}\) whose spectrum coincides with the set \(\{4/\lambda^2\mid \lambda\in Z\}\). We mention some important steps of his sophisticated proof that draws heavily on his Russian paper [St. Petersbg. Math. J. 33, No. 4, 661--673 (2022; Zbl 07572377); translation from Algebra Anal. 33, No. 4, 107--124 (2021)]. Let \(T:= (-\infty, a]\) and \(w_{\pm}(t):=e^{\pm 2t}/(-2t)\), \(t\in T\). A Liouville-Green transformation shows that \(4Q_{-\frac{1}{2}}\), \(4Q_{+\frac{1}{2}}\) are unitarily equivalent to \[ S_{\pm}f_{\pm}:=-(1/w_{\pm})(f^\bullet_{\pm}/w_{\mp})^\bullet\quad \text{in } L^2(T, w_{\pm}). \] Next the modified Bessel function of the second kind \(K_s(-t)\) with \(s:=(1-iz)/2\) is used to define the structure function \(E\) of a de Branges space \(H(E)\) and kernels \(A(t,z)\) (even in \(z\)), \(B(t,z)\) (odd in \(z\)) of integral operators \(V_{\pm}\) that map \(L^2(T, w_{\pm})\) isometrically onto the even (odd) subspace of \(H(E)\). With the help of Riemann's \(\zeta\) function an entire and even function \(\phi\) is defined whose set of zeros is \(Z\,U(-Z)\) and which makes \[ (TF)(z):= (1/z)[F(z)- F(0)\phi(z)],\quad F\in H(E), \] a bounded operator with spectrum \(\{\frac{1}{\lambda}\mid\phi(\lambda)= 0\}\). Moreover, \[ (T^2F)(z) =(1/{z^2}) \{F(z) - [F(0)+F'(0)z]\phi(z)\}\tag{+} \] i.e., \(T^2\) decomposes into the direct sum of operators on the even and odd subspaces of \(H(E)\) with spectrum \(\{1/\lambda^2\mid\lambda\in Z\}\). Finally, \((S_+)^{-1} [(S_-)^{-1}]\) is unitarily equivalent to the first [second] operator on the right-hand side of \((+)\) when \(\phi\) is replaced by a function \(\psi\) which is a real linear combination of \(A(a,z)\) and \(zB(a,z)\) [\(A(a,z)\) and \(B(a,z)/z\)]. This replacement is a rank-one perturbation of \(T^2\), and the assertion follows.