An inverse spectral theorem for Kreĭn strings with a negative eigenvalue (Q438989)

A string is a pair \((L,m)\), where \(L\in[0,+\infty]\) and \(m\) is a positive locally finite Borel measure on \([0,L)\) such that \(m(\{L\})=0\) if \(L+m([0,L])=\infty\). \(L\) is the length of the string and \(m(x):=m\big([0,x)\big)\) is its mass distribution. The main object of the paper under review is the Krein string spectral problem \[ -\frac{d^2f}{dmdx}=zf,\quad f'(0-)=0. \tag{1} \] A positive Borel measure \(\tau\) on \(\mathbb{R}\) is called an orthogonal spectral measure (or simply a spectral measure) of a string \(S[L,m]\) if the map \[ f(x)\to \hat{f}(\lambda):=\int_{[0,L]}f(x)\varphi(\lambda,x)dm(x) \] is an isometry from \(L^2_{dm}[0,L]\) onto \(L^2_{d\tau}(\mathbb{R})\). Here \(\varphi\) stands for the (unique) solution of (1) satisfying \(\varphi(z,0)=1\). If \(\tau\) is a spectral measure of some string \(S[L,m]\), then \(\operatorname{supp}(\tau) \cap(-\infty,0)\) contains at most one point and, moreover, \[ \int_{\mathbb{R}_+}\frac{d\tau(\lambda)}{1+\lambda}<\infty.\tag{2} \] It is well known that, for every string \(S[L,m]\), the set of all spectral measures \(\mathfrak{T}_{S[L,m]}\) contains either one or infinitely many elements. Note that the set \(\mathfrak{T}_{S[L,m]}\) contains one element precisely if \(\int_{[0,L]}x^2dm(x)=\infty\). In this case, the corresponding spectral measure is supported on the closed positive half-line. On the other hand, if the spectral measure \(\tau\) satisfies \(\operatorname{supp}(\tau)\cap(-\infty,0)\neq \emptyset\), then \(\operatorname{supp}(\tau)\cap [0,+\infty)=\{\lambda_k\}_1^\infty\) and, moreover, \[ 0<\lambda_1<\lambda_2<\dots,\qquad \sum_{k}\frac{1}{\lambda_k}<\infty. \] It is a deep result of M. G. Krein that each measure satisfying (2) and with \(\operatorname{supp}(\tau) \subseteq [0, \infty)\) is a spectral measure of some string, and that this string is uniquely determined by \(\tau\). The central result of the paper under review complements the results of M.G. Krein and provides a characterization of spectral measures \(\tau\) with \(\operatorname{supp}(\tau)\cap(-\infty,0)\neq \emptyset\).