Compressions of maximal dissipative and self-adjoint linear relations and of dilations (Q2435371)

\textit{W. Stenger} [Bull. Am. Math. Soc. 74, 369--372 (1968; Zbl 0153.45105)] proved that {the compression of a self-adjoint operator in a Hilbert space to a subspace with finite codimension is self-adjoint in this subspace}. This result was generalized by \textit{M. A. Nudelman} [Integral Equations Oper. Theory 70, No. 3, 301--305 (2011; Zbl 1248.47037)] who proved that {the compression of a densely defined maximal dissipative operator in a Hilbert space to a subspace with finite codimension is densely defined and maximal dissipative in this subspace}. \textit{T. Ya. Azizov} and \textit{A. Dijksma} [Integral Equations Oper. Theory 74, No. 2, 259--269 (2012; Zbl 1277.47002)] showed that converses of these statements also hold: {if an operator in a Hilbert space is densely defined and symmetric (dissipative) and its compression to a subspace with finite codimension is self-adjoint (maximal dissipative), then the operator is self-adjoint (maximal dissipative)}. In the paper under review, the authors prove analogous results for linear relations (multivalued linear operators) in Hilbert and Krein spaces and remove the condition that the operators are densely defined. An application to the hard and soft extensions of a nonnegative symmetric relation in a Hilbert space is included. As a second application, the authors prove that the minimal self-adjoint dilation of the compression of a maximal dissipative linear relation in a Hilbert space to a subspace of finite codimension is a compression of the minimal self-adjoint dilation of this maximal dissipative linear relation.