Depending on the behaviour of the complex-valued electromagnetic potential in the neighbourhood of infinity, pseudomodes of one-dimensional Dirac operators corresponding to large pseudoeigenvalues are constructed. This is a first systematic non-semi-classical approach, which results in substantial progress in achieving optimal conditions and conclusions as well as in covering a wide class of previously inaccessible potentials, including superexponential ones.
We prove some Hardy-Dirac inequalities with two different weights including measure valued and Coulombic ones. Those inequalities are used to construct distinguished self-adjoint extensions of Dirac operators for a class of diagonal potentials related to the weights in the above mentioned inequalities.
This paper deals with the study of the two-dimensional Dirac operatorwith infinite mass boundary condition in a sector. We investigate the question ofself-adjointness depending on the aperture of the sector: when the sector is convexit is self-adjoint on a usual Sobolev space whereas when the sector is non-convexit has a family of self-adjoint extensions parametrized by a complex number of theunit circle. As a byproduct of this analysis we are able to give self-adjointnessresults on polygones. We also discuss the question of distinguished self-adjointextensions and study basic spectral propert…
Distinguished selfadjoint extensions of Dirac operators are constructed for a class of potentials including Coulombic ones up to the critical case, $-|x|^{-1}$. The method uses Hardy-Dirac inequalities and quadratic form techniques.
We prove essential self-adjointness of Dirac operators with Lorentz scalar potentials which grow sufficiently fast near the boundary $\partialΩ$ of the spatial domain $Ω\subset\mathbb R^d$. On the way, we first consider general symmetric first order differential systems, for which we identify a new, large class of potentials, called scalar potentials, ensuring essential self-adjointness. Furthermore, using the supersymmetric structure of the Dirac operator in the two dimensional case, we prove confinement of Dirac particles, i.e. essential self-adjointness of the operator, solely by magnetic f…
We provide a comparative treatment of some aspects of spectral theory for self-adjoint and non-self-adjoint (but J-self-adjoint) Dirac-type operators connected with the defocusing and focusing nonlinear Schrödinger equation, of relevance to nonlinear optics. In addition to a study of Dirac and Hamiltonian systems, we also introduce the concept of Weyl-Titchmarsh half-line m-coefficients (and 2 x 2 matrix-valued M-matrices) in the non-self-adjoint context and derive some of their basic properties. We conclude with an illustrative example showing that crossing spectral arcs in the non-self-adjoi…
We consider the four-component two-valley Dirac operator on a wedge in $\mathbb{R}^2$ with infinite mass boundary conditions, which enjoy a flip at the vertex. We show that it has deficiency indices $(1,1)$ and we parametrize all its self-adjoint extensions, relying on the fact that the underlying two-component Dirac operator is symmetric with deficiency indices $(0,1)$. The respective defect element is computed explicitly. We observe that there exists no self-adjoint extension, which can be decomposed into an orthogonal sum of two two-component operators. In physics, this effect is called mix…
New formulas on the inverse problem for the continuous skew-self-adjoint Dirac type system are obtained. For the discrete skew-self-adjoint Dirac type system the solution of a general type inverse spectral problem is also derived in terms of the Weyl functions. The description of the Weyl functions on the interval is given. Borg-Marchenko type uniqueness theorems are derived for both discrete and continuous non-self-adjoint systems too.
In this work we construct self-adjoint extensions of the Dirac operator associated to Hermitian matrix potentials with Coulomb decay and prove that the domain is maximal. The result is obtained by means of a Hardy-Dirac type inequality. In particular, we can work with some electromagnetic potentials such that both, the electric potential and the magnetic one, have Coulomb type singularity.
We prove the absence of eigenvaues of the three-dimensional Dirac operator with non-Hermitian potentials in unbounded regions of the complex plane under smallness conditions on the potentials in Lebesgue spaces. Our sufficient conditions are quantitative and easily checkable.
This note aims to give prominence to some new results on the absence and localization of eigenvalues for the Dirac and Klein-Gordon operators, starting from known resolvent estimates already established in the literature combined with the renowned Birman-Schwinger principle.
In this paper the spectral and scattering properties of a family of self-adjoint Dirac operators in $L^2(Ω; \mathbb{C}^4)$, where $Ω\subset \mathbb{R}^3$ is either a bounded or an unbounded domain with a compact $C^2$-smooth boundary, are studied in a systematic way. These operators can be viewed as the natural relativistic counterpart of Laplacians with Robin boundary conditions. Among the Dirac operators treated here is also the so-called MIT bag operator, which has been used by physicists and more recently was discussed in the mathematical literature. Our approach is based on abstract bound…
In this note we prove that the maximally defined operator associated with a class of Dirac-type differential expressions M(Q) is J-self-adjoint with respect to a proper antilinear conjugation J under the general hypothesis that the entries of the matrix potential coefficient Q are locally integrable on the real line. The Dirac-type differential expression M(Q) is of significance as it appears in the Lax formulation of the nonabelian (matrix-valued) focusing nonlinear Schrödinger hierarchy of evolution equations.
We present a new theorem concerning a sufficient condition for a symmetric operator acting in a complex Hilbert space to be essentially self-adjoint. By applying the theorem, we prove that the Dirac Maxwell Hamiltonian, which describes a quantum system of a Dirac particle and a radiation field minimally interacting with each other, is essentially self-adjoint. Our theorem covers the case where the Dirac particle is in the Coulomb type potential.
We develop an approach to prove self-adjointness of Dirac operators with boundary or transmission conditions at a $\mathcal{C}^2$-compact surface without boundary. To do so we are lead to study the layer potential induced by the Dirac system as well as to define traces in a weak sense for functions in the appropriate Sobolev space. Finally, we introduce Calderón projectors associated with the problem and illustrate the method in two special cases: the well-known MIT bag model and an electrostatic $δ$-shell interaction.
We investigate the self-adjointness of the two-dimensional Dirac operator $D$, with quantum-dot and Lorentz-scalar $δ$-shell boundary conditions, on piecewise $C^2$ domains with finitely many corners. For both models, we prove the existence of a unique self-adjoint realization whose domain is included in the Sobolev space $H^{1/2}$, the formal form domain of the free Dirac operator. The main part of our paper consists of a description of the domain of $D^*$ in terms of the domain of $D$ and the set of harmonic functions that verify some mixed boundary conditions. Then, we give a detailed study…
We consider a boundary value problem for the Dirac equation in a smooth, asymptotically flat Lorentzian manifold admitting a Killing field which is timelike near and tangential to the boundary. A self-adjoint extension of the Dirac Hamiltonian is constructed. Our results also apply to the situation that the space-time includes horizons, where the Hamiltonian fails to be elliptic.
We consider Dirac operators defined on planar domains. For a large class of boundary conditions, we give a direct proof of their self-adjointness in the Sobolev space $H^1$.
We consider the two-dimensional Dirac operator with Lorentz-scalar $δ$-shell interactions on each edge of a star-graph. An orthogonal decomposition is performed which shows such an operator is unitarily equivalent to an orthogonal sum of half-line Dirac operators with off-diagonal Coulomb potentials. This decomposition reduces the computation of the deficiency indices to determining the number of eigenvalues of a one-dimensional spin-orbit operator in the interval $(-1/2,1/2)$. If the number of edges of the star graph is two or three, these deficiency indices can then be analytically determine…
We provide quantitative estimates on the location of eigenvalues of one-dimensional discrete Dirac operators with complex $\ell^p$-potentials for $1\leq p\leq\infty$. As a corollary, subsets of the essential spectrum free of embedded eigenvalues are determined for small $\ell^1$-potential. Further possible improvements and sharpness of the obtained spectral bounds are also discussed.
We define Dirac operators on $\mathbb{S}^3$ (and $\mathbb{R}^3$) with magnetic fields supported on smooth, oriented links and prove self-adjointness of certain (natural) extensions. We then analyze their spectral properties and show, among other things, that these operators have discrete spectrum. Certain examples, such as circles in $\mathbb{S}^3$, are investigated in detail and we compute the dimension of the zero-energy eigenspace.
A non-classical Weyl theory is developed for skew-self-adjoint Dirac systems with rectangular matrix potentials. The notion of the Weyl function is introduced and direct and inverse problems are solved. A Borg-Marchenko type uniqueness result and the evolution of the Weyl function for the corresponding focusing nonlinear Schrödinger equation are also derived.
We study the two-body Dirac operator in a bounded external field and for a class of unbounded pair-interaction potentials, both repulsive and attractive, including the Coulomb type. Provided the coupling constant of the pair-interaction fulfills a certain bound, we prove existence of a self-adjoint extension of this operator which is uniquely distinguished by means of finite potential energy. In the case of Coulomb interaction, we require as a technical assumption the coupling constant to be bounded by $2/π$.
In this paper we examine the semiclassical behaviour of the scattering data of a non-self-adjoint Dirac operator with analytic potential decaying at infinity. In particular, employing the exact WKB method, we provide the complete rigorous uniform semiclassical analysis of the reflection coefficient and the Bohr-Sommerfeld condition for the location of the eigenvalues. Our analysis has some interesting consequences concerning the focusing cubic NLS equation, in view of the well-known fact discovered by Zakharov and Shabat that the spectral analysis of the Dirac operator is the basis of the solu…
Physical self-adjoint extensions and their spectra of the one-dimensional Dirac type Hamiltonian operator in which both the mass and velocity are constant except for a finite jump at one point of the real axis are correctly found. Different boundary conditions on envelope wave functions are studied, and the limiting case of equal masses (with no mass jump) is reviewed. Transport across one-dimensional heterostructures described by the Dirac equation is considered.
In this paper we continue the study (initiated in arXiv:2003.13584) of the semiclassical behavior of the scattering data of a non-self-adjoint Dirac operator with a real, positive, fairly smooth but not necessarily analytic potential decaying at infinity; in this paper we allow this potential to have several local maxima and minima. We provide the rigorous semiclassical analysis of the Bohr-Sommerfeld condition for the location of the eigenvalues, the norming constants, and the reflection coefficient.
In this note we give a concise review of the present state-of-art for the problem of self-adjoint realisations for the Dirac operator with a Coulomb-like singular scalar potential $V(\vec x)=ϕ(\vec x) I_4$. We try to follow the historical and conceptual path that leads to the present understanding of the problem and to highlight the techniques employed and the main ideas. In the final part we outline a few major open questions that concern the topical problem of the multiplicity of self-adjoint realisations of the model, and which are worth addressing in the future.
We consider Dirac, Pauli and Schrödinger quantum magnetic Hamiltonians of full rank in ${\rm L}^2 \big(\mathbb{R}^{2d} \big)$, $d \ge 1$, perturbed by non-self-adjoint (matrix-valued) potentials. On the one hand, we show the existence of non-self-adjoint perturbations, generating near each point of the essential spectrum of the operators, infinitely many (complex) eigenvalues. In particular, we establish point spectrum analogous of Bögli results [Bög17] obtained for non-magnetic Laplacians, and hence showing that classical Lieb-Thirring inequalities cannot hold for our magnetic models. On the …
We establish a limiting absorption principle for some long range perturbations of the Dirac systems at threshold energies. We cover multi-center interactions with small coupling constants. The analysis is reduced to study a family of non-self-adjoint operators. The technique is based on a positive commutator theory for non self-adjoint operators, which we develop in appendix. We also discuss some applications to the dispersive Helmholzt model in the quantum regime.
We derive a classification of the self-adjoint extensions of the three-dimensional Dirac-Coulomb operator in the critical regime of the Coulomb coupling. Our approach is solely based upon the Kre{\uı}n-Višik-Birman extension scheme, or also on Grubb's universal classification theory, as opposite to previous works within the standard von Neumann framework. This let the boundary condition of self-adjointness emerge, neatly and intrinsically, as a multiplicative constraint between regular and singular part of the functions in the domain of the extension, the multiplicative constant giving also im…
We show that for general-type self-adjoint and skew-self-adjoint Dirac systems on the semi-axis Weyl functions are unique analytic extensions of the reflection coefficients. New results on the extension of the Weyl functions to the real axis and on the existence (in the skew-self-adjoint case) of the Weyl functions follow. Important procedures to recover general-type Dirac systems from the Weyl functions are applied to the recovery of Dirac systems from the reflection coefficients. We explicitly recover Dirac systems from the rational reflection coefficients as well.
In these three lectures we will discuss some fundamental aspects of the theory of self-adjoint extensions of the covariant Laplace-Beltrami and Dirac operators on compact Riemannian manifolds with smooth boundary emphasizing the relation with the theory of global boundary conditions. Self-adjoint extensions of symmetric operators, specially of the Laplace-Beltrami and Dirac operators, are fundamental in Quantum Physics as they determine either the energy of quantum systems and/or their unitary evolution. The well-known von Neumann's theory of self-adjoint extensions of symmetric operators is n…
We consider the cases of the self-adjoint and skew-self-adjoint discrete Dirac systems, obtain explicit expressions for reflection coefficients and show that rational reflection coefficients and Weyl functions coincide.
The present paper studies the Dirac Hamiltonian of a test electron with a domain of bi-spinor wave functions supported on the static region inside the Cauchy horizon of the subextremal RWN black hole spacetime, respectively inside the event horizon of the extremal RWN black hole spacetime. It is found that this Dirac Hamiltonian is not essentially self-adjoint, yet has infinitely many self-adjoint extensions. Including a sufficiently large anomalous magnetic moment interaction in the Dirac Hamiltonian restores essential self-adjointness; the empirical value of the electron's anomalous magnetic…
We investigate the properties of self-adjointness of a two-dimensional Dirac operator on an infinite sector with infinite mass boundary conditions and in presence of a Coulomb-type potential with the singularity placed on the vertex. In the general case, we prove the appropriate Dirac-Hardy inequality and exploit the Kato-Rellich theory. In the explicit case of a Coulomb potential, we describe the self-adjoint extensions for all the intensities of the potential relying on a radial decomposition in partial wave subspaces adapted to the infinite-mass boundary conditions. Finally, we integrate ou…
In this paper we examine the semiclassical behaviour of the scattering data of a non-self-adjoint Dirac operator with a fairly smooth but not necessarily analytic potential decaying at infinity. In particular, using ideas and methods going back to Langer and Olver, we provide the complete rigorous uniform semiclassical analysis of the scattering coefficients away (slightly) from zero, and the rigorous proof of the uniform Bohr-Sommerfeld condition for the location of the eigenvalues. Our analysis is motivated by the potential applications to the focusing cubic NLS equation, in view of the well…
The theory of self-adjoint extensions of first and second order elliptic differential operators on manifolds with boundary is studied via its most representative instances: Dirac and Laplace operators. The theory is developed by exploiting the geometrical structures attached to them and, by using an adapted Cayley transform on each case, the space $\mathcal{M}$ of such extensions is shown to have a canonical group composition law structure. The obtained results are compared with von Neumann's Theorem characterising the self-adjoint extensions of densely defined symmetric operators on Hilbert s…
Considering different self-adjoint realisations of positively projected massless Coulomb-Dirac operators we find out, under which conditions any negative perturbation, however small, leads to emergence of negative spectrum. We also prove some weighted Lieb-Thirring estimates for negative eigenvalues of such operators. In the process we find explicit spectral representations for all self-adjoint realisations of massless Coulomb-Dirac operators on the half-line.
We study the stationary problem of a charged Dirac particle in (2+1) dimensions in the presence of a uniform magnetic field B and a singular magnetic tube of flux Phi = 2 pi kappa/e. The rotational invariance of this configuration implies that the subspaces of definite angular momentum l+1/2 are invariant under the action of the Hamiltonian H. We show that, for l different from the integer part of kappa, the restriction of H to these subspaces, H_l is essentially self-adjoint, while for l equal to the integer part of kappa, H_l admits a one-parameter family of self-adjoint extensions (SAE). In…
The one-dimensional Dirac operator with a singular interaction term which is formally given by $A\otimes|δ_0\rangle\langleδ_0|$, where $A$ is an arbitrary $2\times 2$ matrix and $δ_0$ stands for the Dirac distribution, is introduced as a closed not necessarily self-adjoint operator. We study its spectral properties, find its non-relativistic limit and also address the question of regular approximations. In particular, we show that, contrary to the case of local approximations, for non-local approximating potentials, coupling constants are not renormalized in the limit.
Distinguished selfadjoint extensions of operators which are not semibounded can be deduced from the positivity of the Schur Complement (as a quadratic form). In practical applications this amounts to proving a Hardy-like inequality. Particular cases are Dirac-Coulomb operators where distinguished selfadjoint extensions are obtained for the optimal range of coupling constants.
Spectral theory for non-self-adjoint Dirac operators with periodic potentials and inverse scattering transform for the focusing nonlinear Schrödinger equation with periodic boundary conditions
The problem of self-adjoint extensions of Dirac-type operators in manifolds with boundaries is analysed. The boundaries might be regular or non-regular. The latter situation includes point-like interactions, also called delta-like potentials, in manifolds of dimension higher than one. Self-adjoint boundary conditions for the case of dimension 2 are obtained explicitly.
The one-particle Dirac Hamiltonian with Coulomb interaction is known to be realised, in a regime of large (critical) couplings, by an infinite multiplicity of distinct self-adjoint operators, including a distinguished, physically most natural one. For the latter, Sommerfeld's celebrated fine structure formula provides the well-known expression for the eigenvalues in the gap of the continuum spectrum. Exploiting our recent general classification of all other self-adjoint realisations, we generalise Sommerfeld's formula so as to determine the discrete spectrum of all other self-adjoint versions …
On new classes of explicit solutions of Dirac, dynamical Dirac and Dirac--Weyl systems with non-vanishing at infinity potentials, their properties and applications
In this paper we examine the semiclassical behavior of the scattering data of a non-self-adjoint Dirac operator with a rapidly oscillating potential that is complex analytic in some neighborhood of the real line. Some of our results are rigorous and quite general. On the other hand, complete and concrete understanding requires the investigation of the WKB geometry of specific examples. For such detailed computations we use a particular example that has been investigated numerically more than 20 years ago by Bronski and Miller and rely heavily on their numerical computations. Mostly employing t…
Borg-type uniqueness theorems for matrix-valued Jacobi operators H and supersymmetric Dirac difference operators D are proved. More precisely, assuming reflectionless matrix coefficients A, B in the self-adjoint Jacobi operator H=AS^+ + A^-S^- + B (with S^\pm the right/left shift operators on the lattice Z) and the spectrum of H to be a compact interval [E_-,E_+], E_- < E_+, we prove that A and B are certain multiples of the identity matrix. An analogous result which, however, displays a certain novel nonuniqueness feature, is proved for supersymmetric self-adjoint Dirac difference operators D…
Our goal is to extend the theory of the spectral shift function to the case where only the difference of some powers of the resolvents of self-adjoint operators belongs to the trace class. As an example, we consider a couple of Dirac operators.
Let $Ω\subset\mathbb{R}^3$ be an open set, we study the spectral properties of the free Dirac operator $\mathcal{H}$ coupled with the singular potential $V_κ=(εI_4 +μβ+η(α\cdot N))δ_{\partialΩ}$. The open set $Ω$ can be either a $\mathcal{C}^2$-bounded domain or a locally deformed half-space. In both cases, self-adjointness is proved and several spectral properties are given. In particular, we give a complete description of the essential spectrum of $\mathcal{H}+V_κ$ for the so-called critical combinations of coupling constants, when $Ω$ is a locally deformed half-space. Finally, we introduce …
We consider Schrödinger operators on possibly noncompact Riemannian manifolds, acting on sections in vector bundles, with locally square integrable potentials whose negative part is in the underlying Kato class. Using path integral methods, we prove that under geodesic completeness these differential operators are essentially self-adjoint on the space of smooth functions with compact support, and that the corresponding operator closures are semibounded from below. These results apply to nonrelativistic Pauli-Dirac operators that describe the energy of Hydrogen type atoms on Riemannian 3-manifo…
