On \(L^{p}\)-contractivity of Laguerre semigroups (Q384315)

Let \((\mathcal{X},\mu)\) be a \(\sigma\)-finite measure space and assume that \(\mathcal{D}\) is a linear subspace of the space \(\mathcal{M}\) of all measurable functions on \(\mathcal{X}\) such that it contains all \(L^p:=L^p(\mathcal{X},\mu)\) spaces, \(p\in[1,\infty]\). A symmetric diffusion semigroup is a family of linear operators \(\{T_t\}_{t\in[0,\infty)}\), \(T_0:=\text{Id}\), mapping jointly \(\mathcal{D}\) into \(\mathcal{M}\), and satisfying: (i) for each \(p\in[1,\infty]\), every \(T_t\) is a contraction on \(L^p\) and \(\{T_t\}_{t\in[0,\infty)}\) is a semigroup there; (ii) each \(T_t\) is a self-adjoint operator in \(L^2\); (iii) for each \(f\in L^2\), \(\lim_{\to 0^+}T_tf=f\) in \(L^2\). A symmetric diffusion semigroup \(\{T_t\}_{t\in[0,\infty)}\) is called Markovian if it is positive and conservative, that is, satisfies additionally (iv) for each \(t\), \(T_tf\geq0\) if \(f\geq0\); (v) \(T_t1=1\) for all \(t\). Semigroups satisfying (i)--(iv) and (v') \(T_t1\leq1\) for all \(t\) replacing (v), are called submarkovian. Suppose that \(L\) is a positive self-adjoint operator on \(L^2\). The semigroup of operators \[ \{\exp(-tL)\}_{t\in[0,\infty)}, \] defined on \(L^2\) by means of the spectral theorem, is said to be an \(L^p\)-contractive semigroup if, for each \(p\in[1,\infty]\) and every \(t\in[0,\infty)\), one has \[ \|\exp(-tL)f\|_{L^p}\leq\|f\|_{L^p},\;f\in L^2\cap L^p. \] Let \(L^\alpha_{k}\) denote the Laguerre polynomial of degree \(k\in\mathbb{N}:=\{0,1,\dots\}\) and order \(\alpha\in(-1,\infty)\). The normalized Laguerre polynomial system, \(\{\hat{L}^\alpha_k: k\in\mathbb{N}\}\), is defined by \[ \hat{L}^\alpha_k(x):=\left(\frac{\Gamma(k+1)} {\Gamma(k+\alpha+1)}\right)^{1\over 2}L^\alpha_{k}(x),\;x\in(0,\infty); \] the standard Laguerre function system, \(\{\mathcal{L}^\alpha_k: k\in\mathbb{N}\}\), is defined by \[ \mathcal{L}^\alpha_k(x):=\hat{L}^\alpha_k(x)x^{\alpha/2}e^{-x/2},\;x\in(0,\infty). \] Let \(\{\varphi^\alpha_k: k\in\mathbb{N}\}\) be the Laguerre function system of Hermite type, which is defined by \(\varphi^\alpha_k(x):=\sqrt{2}\hat{L}^\alpha_k(x^2)x^{\alpha+1/2}e^{-x^2/2}\), \(x\in(0,\infty)\). The corresponding multi-dimensional systems are formed by taking tensor products. Let \(\alpha:=(\alpha_1,\dots,\alpha_d)\in[0,\infty)^d\) for some positive integer \(d\) and \(\mathbb{R}_+:=(0,\infty)\). The differential operator related to the system \(\{\mathcal{L}^\alpha_k: k\in\mathbb{N}^d\}\) is defined by \[ L^{\mathcal{L}}_\alpha:=-\sum_{i=1}^d\left(x_i\frac{\partial^2}{\partial x_i^2} +\frac{\partial}{\partial x_i}-\frac{x_i^2+\alpha_i^2}{4x_i}\right). \] The authors prove that \(\{T_t^{\alpha,\,\mathcal{L}}\}_{t\in[0,\infty)} :=\{\exp(-tL^{\mathcal{L}}_\alpha)\}_{t\in[0,\infty)}\) is an \(L^p(\mathbb{R}^d_+)\)-contractive submarkovian (but not Markovian) symmetric diffusion semigroup for all \(p\in[1,\infty]\). Precisely, for each \(p\in[1,\infty]\) and \(t\in(0,\infty)\), \(\|T_t^{\alpha,\,\mathcal{L}}\|_{L^p(\mathbb{R}^d_+)\to L^p(\mathbb{R}^d_+)} \leq(\cosh(t/2))^{-d}\). Moreover, let \(\alpha\in[-1/2,\infty)^d\). The differential operator related to the system \(\{\varphi^\alpha_k: k\in\mathbb{N}^d\}\) is defined by \(L^\varphi_\alpha:=-\Delta+|x|^2+\sum_{i=1}^d \frac1{x_i^2}(\alpha_i^2-\frac14)\). The authors show that, if \(\alpha\in(\{-1/2\}\cup[1/2,\infty))^d\), then \(\{T_t^{\alpha,\,\varphi}\}_{t\in[0,\infty)} :=\{\exp(-tL^{\varphi}_\alpha)\}_{t\in[0,\infty)}\) is an \(L^p(\mathbb{R}^d_+)\)-contractive submarkovian (but not Markovian) symmetric diffusion semigroup for all \(p\in[1,\infty]\) satisfying, for each \(p\in[1,\infty]\) and \(t\in(0,\infty)\), \[ \|T_t^{\alpha,\,\varphi}\|_{L^p(\mathbb{R}^d_+)\to L^p(\mathbb{R}^d_+)} \leq(\cosh(2t))^{-d/2}. \] If \(\alpha_i\in(-1/2,1/2)\) for some \(i\in\{1,\dots,d\}\), then \(\{T_t^{\alpha,\,\varphi}\}_{t\in[0,\infty)}\) is not an \(L^p(\mathbb{R}^d_+)\)-contractive semigroup for all \(p\in[1,\infty]\), but there exists a constant \(c=c(\alpha)\in(1,\infty)\) such that the above estimate holds true with the right-hand side multiplied by \(c\). The authors also study several other Laguerre semigroups and find sharp ranges of the type parameter \(\alpha\) for which these semigroups are contractive on all \(L^p\) spaces (\(p\in[1,\infty]\)). In the end, the authors study a similar question for Bessel semigroups.