Relationships between the \(m\)-function and subordinate solutions of second order differential operators (Q678659)

Let \(z\in{\mathbb{C}}\) and \(q(x)\in{\mathbb{R}}\). Consider a Sturm-Liouville equation \[ -u''+q{\cdot}u=z{\cdot}u\tag{1} \] regular at \(x=0\) and limit point at \(x=\infty\). Define a fundamental system \((\theta,\varphi)\) of (1) by requiring \(\theta=1\), \(\theta'=0\) and \(\varphi=0\), \(\varphi'=1\) at \(x=0\) and let \(H\) or \(m(z)\) denote the corresponding self-adjoint Schrödinger operator or Titchmarsh-Weyl coefficient, respectively. Now fix attention to an arbitrary \(\lambda\in{\mathbb{R}}\) and for \(\varepsilon>0\) set \(h(\varepsilon):=|m(\lambda+i\varepsilon)|\). Physicists have known for a long time that there is a close connection between the asymptotics of \((\theta,\varphi)\) and the spectral properties of \(H\). This has been made more precise in \textit{D. J. Gilbert} and \textit{D. B. Pearson} [J. Math. Anal. Appl. 128, 30-56 (1987; Zbl 0666.34023)], where also the asymptotic behaviour of \(h(\varepsilon)\) as \(\varepsilon\to 0\) is brought into play. From a vast amount of asymptotic results cf., e.g., \textit{D. B. Hinton, M. Klaus} and \textit{J. K. Shaw} [Proc. Lond. Math. Soc., III. Ser. 6, No. 3, 607-646 (1991; Zbl 0689.34018)] the opinion has crystallized that ``the more rapid decay of \(\varphi\) corresponds to a higher singularity of \(h\)'' [cf. \textit{H. Behncke}, J. Math. Phys. 35, No. 4, 1445-1462 (1994; Zbl 0799.34080)]. The purpose of the paper under review is ``to provide a general framework for this kind of statement''. If we denote by \(T\) the operator which maps the fundamental system \((\theta,\varphi)\) onto \(h\) then the main result of the present analysis can be summarized as asserting that there exists a much simpler operator \(T_1\) such that the expression \(T_1(\Phi\circ\Theta^{-1})\) reflects with a sufficient degree of approximation the asymptotic behaviour of \(T(\theta,\varphi)\), where now \(\varepsilon=0\), \(\Theta^{-1}\) denotes the inverse function of \(\Theta\) and \(\Theta(x):=(\int_0^x|\theta|^2dt)^{1/2}\), \(\Phi(x):=(\int_0^x|\varphi|^2dt)^{1/2}\). After showing that the earlier asymptotic results fall under his theory (here the main problem consists in asymptotically inverting functions like \(x\cdot\sqrt{\ln x}\) which are not invertible in closed form), the author uses the invertibility of \(T_1\) to derive the interesting relation \[ \Phi\circ{\Theta}^{-1}\approx{id}^\gamma\tag{2} \] where \(2\gamma(1+\gamma)^{-1}\) is the Hausdorff dimension of the support of the spectral measure. \textit{Reviewer's remark}: The operator \(T_1\) is, in fact, implicitly defined by the strange relation \[ {\Theta\over\Phi}\circ(\Theta\cdot\Phi)^{-1}=T_1(\Phi\circ\Theta^{-1})\circ{1\over{id}}\tag{3} \] whose left hand side now also contains the quotient \(\Phi\over\Theta\) so prominent in Gilbert-Pearson's subordinacy theory.