Kernel dimension of singular integral operators with piecewise continuous coefficients on the unit circle (Q936166)

This paper is concerned with singular integral operators of the form \((Au)(t):= (cu)(t)+\frac{d(t)}{\pi i}\int_{\mathbb{T}}\frac{u(\tau)}{\tau-t} d\tau\), where the coefficients \(c, d\) are piecewise continuous matrix functons. The introduction includes a summary of relevant definitions and results to establish that the Fredholm properties of the singular operator \(aP+BQ\) are the same as those of the Toeplitz operator \(T(b^{-1}a)\), and notes that the kernel dimensions of the operators \(aP+bQ\) and \(T(b^{-1}a)\) coincide. Existing results for Toeplitz operators are presented in Section 2. The authors adapt an algorithm, developed by \textit{B. Silbermann} [in: Factorization, singular operators and related problems. Proceedings of the conference in honor of Professor Georgii Litvinchuk, Funchal, Madeira, Portugal, January 28--February 1, 2002. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers. 291--300 (2003; Zbl 1049.47009)], to singular integral operators with piecewise continuous coefficients. In Section 3 the authors show that the singular values of the operator \(A_{n, r}\), where \(A_{n, r}:= L_n(aP+bQ)P_n(P_n-W_N P_{r-1}W_N)\), \(n\in \mathbb{Z}_+\), have the k-splitting property with \(k=k(A_{n, r}):=\dim \ker(aP+bQ)+\dim \ker(\tilde{a}P+\tilde{b}Q)_{r-1}\). In Section 4 the authors investigate the convergence speed of \(S_k(A_{n, r})\) to zero. Results from their earlier work are used (relevant results are included) to prove an inequality which can be used to estimate the convergence speed by the smoothness of the function \(a\) and \(b\). This result is then applied to the case when \(a, b\) belong to the Holder-Zygmund space \({H^S}_{N \times N}\). The authors state that the same approach can be used for rational functions \(a\) and \(b\). In Section 5 three numerical examples are presented. These compare the applicability of the finite section method and of the collocation method to compute the kernel dimension of the Toeplitz operatro \(T(a)\) and / or the singular integral operator \(aP+Q\). The authors conclude that the two methods are equivalently applicable.