On boundary value problems for Dirac type operators. I: Regularity and self-adjointness (Q5949549)

This paper is the first paper of a series which develops the spectral theory of (selfadjoint) boundary value problems for Dirac type operators on manifolds with boundary. The authors characterize boundary conditions with optimal regularity such that the Dirac type operator is a Fredholm operator. The paper presents both previously known results and new material in a homogeneous way. Several proofs are simpler than comparable proofs in the literature. The structure of the article is as follows: In section 1 the authors begin with a brief reminder of the analysis of Dirac type operators of compact manifolds without boundary. This gives a first idea on what one has to expect on manifolds with boundary. After this, Dirac operators on manifolds with boundary are studied. In a neighborhood of the boundary, the Dirac operator is expressed in suitable coordinates and in a suitable trivialization of the generalized spinor bundle. This motivates studying a simple situation, which is called the model operator. This simplified situation already gives a rough idea on a criterion for selfadjointness. To deal with the general case, one introduces Sobolev scales of generalized spinors, together with pseudodifferential operators. Boundary conditions are expressed as being the kernel of a 0-order pseudodifferential operator \(P\), \(P^2=P\), acting on sections of the spinor bundle on the boundary. Now, the main objects being introduced, the main theorems of the article can be properly stated. In particular, one obtains an abstract criterion that decides which boundary conditions yield a selfadjoint extension of the Dirac operator: the extension is selfadjoint iff the operator \(P\) from above together with a certain ``background'' projection \(P_+(A)\) form a Fredholm pair. The following sections provide more details and proofs. Section 2 introduces Sobolev scales for unbounded operators in a Hilbert space. Section 3 introduces and studies Fredholm pairs. In Sections 4 and 5 regularity questions for the model operator are studied. Finally, in section 6, it is explained how to adapt these results to the general case by admitting variable coefficients. The main results of the article under review were already announced in [\textit{J. Brüning} and \textit{M. Lesch}, Contemp. Math. 242, 203-215 (1999; Zbl 0945.58026)].