Polynomial stability of semigroups generated by operator matrices (Q2343009)

This paper deals with semigroups generated by operators of the form \[ A = \left[\begin{matrix} A_1 & BC \cr 0 & A_2 \end{matrix} \right] \qquad \text{and} \qquad A = \left[\begin{matrix} A_1 & B_1 C_2 \cr B_2 C_1 & A_2 \end{matrix} \right]. \] The operators \(A_1: D(A_1) \subset H_1 \to H_1\) and \(A_2: D(A_2) \subset H_2 \to H_2\) generate strongly continuous semigroups \(S_1(t)\) in the Hilbert space \(H_1\) and \(S_2(t)\) in the Hilbert space \(H_2\). All the other operators are bounded, with domains and ranges that make the two matrices operators in \(H_1 \times H_2\). Since both are bounded perturbations of the first matrix with \(B = C = 0\), they are semigroup generators. A semigroup is \textit{polynomially stable} with index \(\alpha > 0\) if it is uniformly bounded, the spectrum of its generator is contained in the left half complex plane and there exists a constant \(K\) with \[ \| S(t)A^{-1}\| \leq {K \over t^{1 / \alpha}}, \quad t > 0. \] The author assumes \(S_1(t)\) and \(S_2(t)\) to be polynomially stable (with different indices) and gives conditions that make the semigroup \(S(t)\) generated by \(A\) polynomially stable as well. The results are applied to coupled wave equations.