A family $A_α$ of differential operators depending on a real parameter $α\ge 0$ is considered. This family was suggested by Smilansky as a model of an irreversible quantum system. We find the absolutely continuous spectrum $σ_{a.c.}$ of the operator $A_α$ and its multiplicity for all values of the parameter. The spectrum of $A_0$ is purely a.c. and admits an explicit description. It turns out that for $α<\sqrt 2$ one has $σ_{a.c.}(A_α)= σ_{a.c.}(A_0)$, including the multiplicity. For $α\ge\sqrt2$ an additional branch of absolutely continuous spectrum arises, its source is an auxiliary Jacobi matrix which is related to the operator $A_α$. This birth of an extra-branch of a.c. spectrum is the exact mathematical expression of the effect which was interpreted by Smilansky as irreversibility.
In the model suggested by Smilansky one studies an operator describing the interaction between a quantum graph and a system of $K$ one-dimensional oscillators attached at several different points in the graph. The present paper is the first one in which the case $K>1$ is investigated. For the sake of simplicity we consider K=2, but our argument is of a general character. In this first of two papers on the problem, we describe the absolutely continuous spectrum. Our approach is based upon scattering theory.
We provide a simplified version of the geometric method given by Froese, Hasler and Spitzer and use it to prove the existence of absolutely continuous spectrum for a Cayley tree of arbitrary degree k.
We give sufficient conditions for the presence of the absolutely continuous spectrum of a Schrödinger operator on a regular rooted tree without loops (also called regular Bethe lattice or Cayley tree).
We prove an averaging formula for the derivative of the absolutely continuous part of the density of states measure for an ergodic family of CMV matrices. As a consequence, we show that the spectral type of such a family is almost surely purely absolutely continuous if and only if the density of states is absolutely continuous and the Lyapunov exponent vanishes almost everywhere with respect to the same. Both of these results are CMV operator analogues of theorems obtained by Kotani for Schrödinger operators.
We consider a family of operators $-Δ+ t V$ with a slowly decaying and oscillating potential $V$. We prove that the absolutely continuous spectrum of this operator is essentially supported by $[0,\infty)$ for almost every $t$.
We consider a family of random Schrödinger operators on the discrete strip with decaying random $\ell^2$ matrix potential. We prove that the spectrum is almost surely pure absolutely continuous, apart from random, possibly embedded eigenvalues, which may accumulate at band edges.
I explore some consequences of a groundbreaking result of Breimesser and Pearson on the absolutely continuous spectrum of one-dimensional Schr"odinger operators. These include an Oracle Theorem that predicts the potential and rather general results on the approach to certain limit potentials. In particular, we prove a Denisov-Rakhmanov type theorem for the general finite gap case. The main theme is the following: It is extremely difficult to produce absolutely continuous spectrum in one space dimension and thus its existence has strong implications.
We prove new criteria of stability of the absolutely continuous spectrum of one-dimensional Schrödinger operators under slowly decaying perturbations. As applications, we show that the absolutely continuous spectrum of the free and periodic Schrödinger operators is preserved under perturbations by all potentials $V(x)$ satisfying $|V(x)| \leq C(1+x)^{-\frac{2}{3}-ε}.$ The main new technique includes an a.e.\ convergence theorem for a class of integral operators.
We disprove a conjecture of Breuer-Last-Simon concerning the absolutely continuous spectrum of Jacobi matrices with coefficients that obey an $\ell^2$ bounded variation condition with step $q$. We prove existence of a.c. spectrum on a smaller set than that specified by the conjecture and prove that our result is optimal.
We show that a generic quasi-periodic Schrödinger operator in $L^2(\mathbb{R})$ has purely singular spectrum. That is, for any minimal translation flow on a finite-dimensional torus, there is a residual set of continuous sampling functions such that for each of these sampling functions, the Schrödinger operator with the resulting potential has empty absolutely continuous spectrum.
We present general principles for the preservation of a.c. spectrum under weak perturbations. The Schrodinger operators on the strip and on the Caley tree (Bethe lattice) are considered.
We consider standard subordinacy theory for general Sturm--Liouville operators and give criteria when boundedness of solutions implies that no subordinate solutions exist. As applications, we prove a Weidmann-type result for general Sturm--Liouville operators and investigate the absolutely continuous spectrum of radially symmetric quantum trees.
We consider a family of multi-dimensional Schrödinger operators $-Δ+t V$ with a real $t$. The potential $V$ in our model decays at infinity in a special way, so that it satisfies a certain integral condition. We prove that the absolutely continuous spectrum of this operator covers the interval $[0,\infty)$ for almost every $t$.
This paper deals with general structural properties of one-dimensional Schr"odinger operators with some absolutely continuous spectrum. The basic result says that the omega limit points of the potential under the shift map are reflectionless on the support of the absolutely continuous part of the spectral measure. This implies an Oracle Theorem for such potentials and Denisov-Rakhmanov type theorems. In the discrete case, for Jacobi operators, these issues were discussed in my recent paper [19]. The treatment of the continuous case in the present paper depends on the same basic ideas.
On an infinite, radial metric tree graph we consider the corresponding Laplacian equipped with self-adjoint vertex conditions from a large class including $δ$- and weighted $δ'$-couplings. Assuming the numbers of different edge lengths, branching numbers and different coupling conditions to be finite, we prove that the presence of absolutely continuous spectrum implies that the sequence of geometric data of the tree as well as the coupling conditions are eventually periodic. On the other hand, we provide examples of self-adjoint, non-periodic couplings which admit absolutely continuous spectru…
Recent results of Denisov and Kaluzhny-Shamis describe the absolutely continuous spectrum of Jacobi matrices with coefficients that obey an l^2 bounded variation condition with step p and are asymptotically periodic. We extend these results to orthogonal polynomials on the unit circle. We also replace the asymptotic periodicity condition by the weaker condition of convergence to an isospectral torus and, for p=1 and p=2, we remove even that condition.
We prove several new results on the absolutely continuous spectra of perturbed one-dimensional Stark operators. First, we find new classes of perturbations, characterized mainly by smoothness conditions, which preserve purely absolutely continuous spectrum. Then we establish stability of the absolutely continuous spectrum in more general situations, where imbedded singular spectrum may occur. We present two kinds of optimal conditions for the stability of absolutely continuous spectrum: decay and smoothness. In the decay direction, we show that a sufficient (in the power scale) condition is $|…
We apply the methods of classical approximation theory (extreme properties of polynomials) to study the essential support $Σ_{ac}$ of the absolutely continuous spectrum of Jacobi matrices. First, we prove an upper bound on the measure of $Σ_{ac}$ which takes into account the value distribution of the diagonal elements, and implies the bound due to Deift-Simon and Poltoratski-Remling. Second, we generalise the differential inequality of Deift-Simon for the integrated density of states associated with the absolutely continuous spectrum to general Jacobi matrices.
We study the spectrum of random operators on a large class of trees. These trees have finitely many cone types and they can be constructed by a substitution rule. The random operators are perturbations of Laplace type operators either by random potentials or by random hopping terms, i.e., perturbations of the off-diagonal elements. We prove stability of arbitrary large parts of the absolutely continuous spectrum for sufficiently small but extensive disorder.
We will consider cross products of finite graphs with a class of trees that have arbitrarily but finitely long line segments, such as the Fibonacci tree. Such cross products are called tree-strips. We prove that for small disorder random Schrödinger operators on such tree-strips have purely absolutely continuous spectrum in a certain set.
The absolutely continuous spectrum of one-dimensional Schrödinger operators is proved to be stable under perturbation by potentials satisfying mild decay conditions. In particular, the absolutely continuous spectrum of free and periodic Schrödinger operators is preserved under all perturbations $V(x)$ satisfying $|V(x)|\leq C(1+x)^{-α}$, $α>\frac{1}{2}.$ This result is optimal in the power scale. More general classes of perturbing potentials which are not necessarily power decaying are also treated. A general criterion for stability of the absolutely continuous spectrum of one-dimensional Schr…
A tree-strip of finite cone type is the product of a tree of finite cone type with a finite set. We consider random Schrödinger operators on these tree strips, similar to the Anderson model. We prove that for small disorder the spectrum is almost surely, purely, absolutely continuous in a certain set.
We study the spectra of quantum trees of finite cone type. These are quantum graphs whose geometry has a certain homogeneity, and which carry a finite set of edge lengths, coupling constants and potentials on the edges. We show the spectrum consists of bands of purely absolutely continuous spectrum, along with a discrete set of eigenvalues. Afterwards, we study random perturbations of such trees, at the level of edge length and coupling, and prove the stability of pure AC spectrum, along with resolvent estimates.
We formulate and prove the existence and uniqueness of the generalized Fourier transform associated with the absolutely continuous part of an arbitrary selfadjoint operator on a separable Hilbert space. To this end we develop a novel method to decompose an absolutely continuous operator into a variable fiber direct integral of selfadjoint operators.
We consider random Schrödinger operators on tree graphs and prove absolutely continuous spectrum at small disorder for two models. The first model is the usual binary tree with certain strongly correlated random potentials. These potentials are of interest since for complete correlation they exhibit localization at all disorders. In the second model we change the tree graph by adding all possible edges to the graph inside each sphere, with weights proportional to the number of points in the sphere.
We characterize the absolutely continuous spectrum of half-line one-dimensional Schrödinger operators in terms of the limiting behavior of the Crystaline Landauer-Büttiker conductance of the associated finite samples.
We consider the discrete Schrödinger operator $H=-Δ+V$ with a sparse potential $V$ and find conditions guaranteeing either existence of wave operators for the pair $H$ and $H_0=-Δ$, or presence of dense purely point spectrum of the operator $H$ on some interval $[λ_0,0]$ with $λ_0<0$.
We prove that the spectrum of the almost Mathieu operator is absolutely continuous if and only if the coupling is subcritical. This settles Problem 6 of Barry Simon's list of Schrödinger operator problems for the twenty-first century.
We investigate absolutely continuous spectrum of generalized indefinite strings. By following an approach of Deift and Killip, we establish stability of the absolutely continuous spectra of two model examples of generalized indefinite strings under rather wide perturbations. In particular, one of these results allows us to prove that the absolutely continuous spectrum of the isospectral problem associated with the conservative Camassa-Holm flow in the dispersive regime is essentially supported on the interval $[1/4,\infty)$.
We consider multi-type Galton Watson trees that are close to a tree of finite cone type in distribution. Moreover, we impose that each vertex has at least one forward neighbor. Then, we show that the spectrum of the Laplace operator exhibits almost surely a purely absolutely continuous component which is included in the absolutely continuous spectrum of the tree of finite cone type.
We continue to investigate absolutely continuous spectrum of generalized indefinite strings. By following an approach of Deift and Killip, we establish stability of the absolutely continuous spectra of two more model examples of generalized indefinite strings under rather wide perturbations. In particular, one of these results allows us to prove that the absolutely continuous spectrum of the isospectral problem associated with the two-component Camassa-Holm system in a certain dispersive regime is essentially supported on the set $(-\infty,-1/2]\cup [1/2,\infty)$.
We study self-adjoint bounded Jacobi operators of the form: (J ψ)(n) = a_n ψ(n + 1) + b_n ψ(n) +a_{n-1} ψ(n - 1) on $\ell^2(\N)$. We assume that for some fixed q, the q-variation of $\{a_n\}$ and $\{b_n\}$ is square-summable and $\{a_n\}$ and $\{b_n\}$ converge to q-periodic sequences. Our main result is that under these assumptions the essential support of the absolutely continuous part of the spectrum of J is equal to that of the asymptotic periodic Jacobi operator. This work is an extension of a recent result of S.A.Denisov.
A scattering zipper is a system obtained by concatenation of scattering events with equal even number of incoming and out going channels. The associated scattering zipper operator is the unitary equivalent of Jacobi matrices with matrix entries. For infinite identical events and random phases, Lyapunov exponents positivity is proved and yields to the absence of absolutely continuous spectrum.
In this paper, we consider the perturbed Stark operator \begin{equation*} Hu=H_0u+qu=-u^{\prime\prime}-xu+qu, \end{equation*} where $q$ is the power-decaying perturbation. The criteria for $q$ such that $H=H_0+q$ has at most one eigenvalue (finitely many, infinitely many eigenvalues) are obtained. All the results are quantitative and are generalized to the perturbed Stark type operator.
We extend in this work the Jitomirskaya-Last inequality and Last-Simoncriterion for the absolutely continuous spectral component of a half-line Schrödinger operator to the special class of matrix-valued Jacobi operators $H:l^2(\mathbb{Z},\mathbb{C})\rightarrow l^2(\mathbb{Z},\mathbb{C})$ given by the law $[H \textbf{u}]_{n} := D_{n - 1} \textbf{u}_{n - 1} + D_{n} \textbf{u}_{n + 1} + V_{n} \textbf{u}_{n}$, where $(D_n)_n$ and $(V_n)_n$ are bilateral sequences of $l\times l$ self-adjoint matrices such that $0<\inf_{n\in\mathbb{Z}}s_l[D_n]\le\sup_{n\in\mathbb{Z}}s_1[D_n]<\infty$ (here, $s_k[A]$ …
We prove for the square Fibonacci Hamiltonian that the density of states measure is absolutely continuous for almost all pairs of small coupling constants. This is obtained from a new result we establish about the absolute continuity of convolutions of measures arising in hyperbolic dynamics with exact-dimensional measures.
The Bethe Strip of width $m$ is the cartesian product $\B\times\{1,...,m\}$, where $\B$ is the Bethe lattice (Cayley tree). We prove that Anderson models on the Bethe strip have "extended states" for small disorder. More precisely, we consider Anderson-like Hamiltonians $\;H_λ=\frac12 Δ\otimes 1 + 1 \otimes A + λ\Vv$ on a Bethe strip with connectivity $K \geq 2$, where $A$ is an $m\times m$ symmetric matrix, $\Vv$ is a random matrix potential, and $λ$ is the disorder parameter. Given any closed interval $I\subset (-\sqrt{K}+a_{\mathrm{max}},\sqrt{K}+a_{\mathrm{min}})$, where $a_{\mathrm{min}}$…
The subject of the paper are Schrödinger operators on tree graphs which are radial having the branching number $b_n$ at all the vertices at the distance $t_n$ from the root. We consider a family of coupling conditions at the vertices characterized by $(b_n-1)^2+4$ real parameters. We prove that if the graph is sparse so that there is a subsequence of $\{t_{n+1}-t_n\}$ growing to infinity, in the absence of the potential the absolutely continuous spectrum is empty for a large subset of these vertex couplings, but on the the other hand, there are cases when the spectrum of such a Schrödinger ope…
The purpose of this paper is to prove that the spectrum of an isotropic Maxwell operator with electric permittivity and magnetic permeability that are periodic along certain directions and tending to a constant super-exponentially fast in the remaining directions is purely absolutely continuous. The basic technical tools is a new ``operatorial'' identity relating the Maxwell operator to a vector-valued Schrodinger operator. The analysis of the spectrum of that operator is then handled using ideas developed by the same authors in a previous paper.
We consider the Laplacian on a rooted metric tree graph with branching number $ K \geq 2 $ and random edge lengths given by independent and identically distributed bounded variables. Our main result is the stability of the absolutely continuous spectrum for weak disorder. A useful tool in the discussion is a function which expresses a directional transmission amplitude to infinity and forms a generalization of the Weyl-Titchmarsh function to trees. The proof of the main result rests on upper bounds on the range of fluctuations of this quantity in the limit of weak disorder.
We analyze the spectrum of the generalized Schrodinger operator in $L^2(R^ν) ν\geq 2$, with a general local, rotationally invariant singular interaction supported by an infinite family of concentric, equidistantly spaced spheres. It is shown that the essential spectrum consists of interlaced segments of the dense point and absolutely continuous character, and that the relation of their lengths at high energies depends on the choice of the interaction parameters; generically the p.p. component is asymptotically dominant. We also show that for $ν=2$ there is an infinite family of eigenvalues bel…
Given a self-adjoint operator H, a self-adjoint trace class operator V and a fixed Hilbert-Schmidt operator F with trivial kernel and co-kernel, using limiting absorption principle an explicit set of full Lebesgue measure is defined such that for all points of this set the wave and the scattering matrices can be defined and constructed unambiguously. Many well-known properties of the wave and scattering matrices and operators are proved, including the stationary formula for the scattering matrix. This new abstract scattering theory allows to prove that for any trace class perturbations of arbi…
We consider Schrödinger operator in dimension $d\ge 2$ with a singular interaction supported by an infinite family of concentric spheres, analogous to a system studied by Hempel and coauthors for regular potentials. The essential spectrum covers a halfline determined by the appropriate one-dimensional comparison operator; it is dense pure point in the gaps of the latter. If the interaction is radially periodic, there are absolutely continuous bands; in contrast to the regular case the measure of the p.p. segments does not vanish in the high-energy limit.
We prove new results on the stability of the absolutely continuous spectrum for perturbed Stark operators with decaying or satisfying certain smoothness assumption perturbation. We show that the absolutely continuous spectrum of the Stark operator is stable if the perturbing potential decays at the rate $(1+x)^{-\frac{1}{3}-ε}$ or if it is continuously differentiable with derivative from the Hölder space $C_α(R),$ with any $α>0.$
We introduce a transfer matrix method for the spectral analysis of discrete Hermitian operators with locally finite hopping. Such operators can be associated with a locally finite graph structure and the method works in principle on any such graph. The key result is a spectral averaging formula well known for Jacobi or 1-channel operators giving the spectral measure at a root vector by a weak limit of products of transfer matrices. Here, we assume an increase in the rank for the connections between spherical shells which is a typical situation and true on finite dimensional lattices $\mathbb{Z…
We show that a large class of limit-periodic Schrödinger operators has purely absolutely continuous spectrum in arbitrary dimensions. This result was previously known only in dimension one. The proof proceeds through the non-perturbative construction of limit-periodic extended states. An essential step is a new estimate of the probability (in quasi-momentum) that the Floquet Bloch operators have only simple eigenvalues.
We explicitely compute the absolutely continuous spectrum of the Laplace-Beltrami operator for $p$-forms for the class of warped product metrics $dσ^2= y^{2a}dy^2 + y^{2b}dθ_{\Sphere^{N-1}}^2$, where $y$ is a boundary defining function on the unit ball B(0,1) in $\Real^N$.
We establish sharp results on the modulus of continuity of the distribution of the spectral measure for one-frequency Schrodinger operators with Diophantine frequencies in the region of absolutely continuous spectrum. More precisely, we establish 1/2-Holder continuity near almost reducible energies (an essential support of absolutely continuous spectrum). For non-perturbatively small potentials (and for the almost Mathieu operator with subcritical coupling), our results apply for all energies.
We prove sharp estimates on the time-average behavior of the squared absolute value of the Fourier transform of some absolutely continuous measures that may have power-law singularities, in the sense that their Radon-Nikodym derivatives diverge with a power-law order. We also discuss an application to spectral measures of finite-rank perturbations of the discrete Laplacian.
Avila and Jitomirskaya prove that the quasi-periodic Schrödinger operator $H_{λv,α,θ}$ has purely absolutely continuous spectrum for $α$ in sub-exponential regime (i.e., $β(α)=0$) with small $λ$, if $v$ is real analytic in a strip of real axis. In the present paper, we show that for all $α$ with $0<β(α)<\infty$, $H_{λv,α,θ}$ has purely absolutely continuous spectrum with small $λ$, if $v$ is real analytic in strip $ |\Im x|< Cβ$, where $C$ is a large absolute constant.
We use the "Value Distribution" theory developed by Pearson and Breimesser to obtain a sequence of functions in the eigenvalue parameter for some Sturm-Liouville problems which have the property of being "uniformly asymptotically distributed".
We consider standard and extended CMV matrices with small quasi-periodic Verblunsky coefficients and show that on their essential spectrum, all spectral measures are purely absolutely continuous. This answers a question of Barry Simon from 2005.
