Unique continuation principle for spectral projections of Schrödinger operators and optimal Wegner estimates for non-ergodic random Schrödinger operators (Q380044)

Let \(H=-\Delta + V\), \(V \in L^\infty(\mathbb{R}^d)\), be a Schrödinger operator acting on \(L^2(\mathbb{R}^d)\), and denote by \(H_\Lambda\) its restriction to the cube \(\Lambda = \Lambda_L(x_0)\) of side length \(L\) centred at \(x_0\), equipped with Dirichlet or periodic boundary conditions. The author is interested in estimates of the form \[ \chi_I(H_\Lambda) W \chi_I(H_\Lambda) \geq \kappa \chi_I(H_\Lambda) \tag{1} \] (interpreted in the \(L^2\)-sense) where \(\chi_I\) is the characteristic function of an interval \(I \subset \mathbb{R}\), \(W\) is a non-negative potential and the constant \(\kappa>0\) should not depend on the box \(\Lambda\). Such an estimate may be thought of as a unique continuation principle for Schrödinger operators, cf.\ [\textit{J. M. Combes} et al., Duke Math. J. 140, No. 3, 469--498 (2007; Zbl 1134.81022)]; if \(\psi\) is an eigenfunction of \(H_\Lambda\) with eigenvalue \(E\), then in the special case \(I = \{E\}\), ({1}) reduces to \[ \|W\psi\|_2^2 \geq \kappa \|\psi\|_2^2, \] which was proved recently by \textit{C. Rojas-Molina} and \textit{I. Veselić} [Commun. Math. Phys. 320, No. 1, 245-274 (2013; Zbl 1276.47051)] for a particular type of \(W\) given as the sum of certain characteristic functions, with \(\kappa>0\) depending only on \(d\) and the bounded potential \(V\). The present work is a generalisation of the result of \textit{C. Rojas-Molina} and \textit{I. Veselić} [ [loc.\,cit.]\ to the case described by ({1}); the principal theorem (Theorem~1.1) reads as follows: with \(H\) as above, fix \(\delta \in (0, 1/2]\), let \(\{y_k\}_{k \in \mathbb{Z}^d}\) be sites in \(\mathbb{R}^d\) with \(B(y_k,\delta) \subset \Lambda_1(k)\) for all \(k \in \mathbb{Z}^d\), and set \(W:= \sum_{k \in \mathbb{Z}^d} \chi_{B(y_k,\delta)}\). Given \(E_0>0\), set \(K = K(V,E_0):= 2\|V\|_\infty + E_0\). Consider a box \(\Lambda = \Lambda_L(x_0)\), where \(x_0 \in \mathbb{Z}^d\) and \(L \in \mathbb{N}_{\text{odd}}\), \(L \geq 72\sqrt{d}\). Then there exists a constant \(M_d>0\) such that, defining \(\gamma = \gamma(d,K,\delta)>0\) by \[ \gamma^2 = \frac{1}{2} \delta^{M_d (1+ K^{2/3})} \] for any closed interval \(I \subset (-\infty, E_0]\) with \(|I| \leq 2\gamma\), we have that ({1}) holds for \(\kappa = \gamma^2\). This theorem, whose proof is based on a quantitative unique continuation principle from [\textit{J. Bourgain} and \textit{A. Klein}, Invent. Math. 194, No. 1, 41-72 (2013; Zbl 1362.35113)] together with techniques from \textit{C. Rojas-Molina} and \textit{I. Veselić} [ [loc.\,cit.], is then applied to obtain Wegner estimates, i.e., estimates on \(\mathbb{E}\{ \text{tr} \,\chi_I(H_{\omega,\Lambda})\}\), for so-called crooked (non-ergodic) Anderson Hamiltonians \(H_\omega = -\Delta+V+V_\omega\), \(V_\omega\) being a ``crooked alloy-type random potential'', restricted to \(\Lambda\).