Local solvability of partial differential operators on the Heisenberg group (Q5950494)

Let \(G\) be the Heisenberg group identified with \(\mathbb{R}^3\) endowed with the product \[ (x,y,w) \cdot(x',y',w')= (x+x',y+y', w+w'+yx'). \] Let \(P(X,Y)\) be a homogeneous polynomial of degree \(n\geq 2\) in the vector fields on \(G\), \(X=\partial_x\), \(Y=\partial_y +x\partial_w\). Suppose that the complex polynomial \(P(iz,1)\) has distinct roots \(\{\gamma_j\}^n_{j=1}\) and that \(P(z,0)= z^n\) in the complex variable \(z\). We define the ordinary differential operators \({\mathcal L}^\pm= P(-i\partial_x,\mp x)\). We note that the operators \({\mathcal L}^+\) and \({\mathcal L}^-\) have characteristic roots \(\{+\gamma_j\}^n_{j=1}\) and \(\{-\gamma_j\}^n_{j=1}\), respectively. In the article the main results are as follows: Theorem. The partial differential operator \(P(X,Y)\) is locally solvable if and only if neither \(\text{ker}({\mathcal L}^+)^*\) nor \(\text{ker} ({\mathcal L}^-)^*\) contain functions in \({\mathcal S}(\mathbb{R})\setminus\{0\}\), where \({\mathcal S}(\mathbb{R})\) denotes the space of Schwartz class functions and \(({\mathcal L}^\pm)^*\) denotes the adjoint operator associated with \({\mathcal L}^\pm\), respectively. The proof of the theorem involves the construction of a parametrix along with invariance properties of Heisenberg group operators and the application of Sobolev space inequalities by Hörmander as necessary conditions for local solvability. Corollary. The partial differential operator \(P(X,Y)\) is locally solvable if the characteristic roots \(\{\pm\gamma_j \}^n_{j=1}\) are distinct and purely imaginary.