On the spectral characterization of entire operators with deficiency indices \((1,1)\) (Q968824)

The concept of entire operator was introduced by M.\,G.\thinspace Krein in the search for a unified treatment of several classical problems in analysis, [cf.\ \textit{M.\,L.\thinspace Gorbachuk} and \textit{V.\,I.\thinspace Gorbachuk}, ``M.\,G.\thinspace Krein's lectures on entire operators'' (Operator Theory: Advances and Applications 97; Basel:\ Birkhäuser) (1997; Zbl 0883.47008)]. The existing criteria for membership in this class of operators usually involve finding their entire gauge. The paper under review presents a characterization of entire operators for the case of deficiency indices \((1,1)\) based exclusively on the distribution of the spectra of two von Neumann selfadjoint extensions of the analyzed operator. In order to obtain such a characterization, the representation of a simple, regular, closed, symmetric operator with deficiency indices \((1,1)\) as a multiplication operator in certain de Branges space is discussed. The paper includes a short review of entire operators with deficiency indices \((1,1)\) and a brief account of some facts on de Branges spaces.