A spectral theorem for bilinear compact operators in Hilbert spaces (Q2227638)

Let \(H\) be a separable Hilbert space and \(L \in \mathcal{L}(H)\). It is well known that if \(L\) is compact and self-adjoint, then there exists a system of orthonormal eigenvectors \(x_1, x_2, x_3, \dots\) of \(L\) and corresponding eigenvalues \(\lambda_1, \lambda_2, \lambda_3, \dots\) such that \(L= \sum_{n=1}^\infty \lambda_n \langle x, x_n \rangle x_n\). The convergence is in the operator norm and \((\lambda_n)_n\) is decreasing and converges to zero. Such a representation is called Schur representation of \(L\). The goal of the paper is to obtain a similar result for bilinear operators. Namely, it is shown that a bilinear form \(T:H\times H \to H\) is compact, self-adjoint, and its eigenvalues are ordered iff \(T\) has a Schur representation; i.e., \[T(x, y) = \sum_{n=1}^\infty \lambda_n \langle x, x_n \rangle \langle y, x_n \rangle x_n.\]