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Spectral inclusions of perturbed normal operators and applications

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2026

Javier Moreno
Affiliation:
Department of Mathematics, Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia (jd.morenop@uniandes.edu.co, mwinklme@uniandes.edu.co)
Monika Winklmeier
Affiliation:
Department of Mathematics, Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia (jd.morenop@uniandes.edu.co, mwinklme@uniandes.edu.co)
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Abstract

We consider a normal operator $T$ on a Hilbert space $H$. Under various assumptions on the spectrum of $T$, we give bounds for the spectrum of $T+A$ where $A$ is $T$-bounded with relative bound less than 1 but we do not assume that $A$ is symmetric or normal. If the imaginary part of the spectrum of $T$ is bounded, then the spectrum of $T+A$ is contained in the region between two hyperbolas whose asymptotic slope depends on the $T$-bound of $A$. If the spectrum of $T$ is contained in a bisector, then the spectrum of $T+A$ is contained in the area between certain rotated hyperbolas. The case of infinitely many gaps in the spectrum of $T$ is studied. Moreover, we prove a stability result for the essential spectrum of $T+A$. If $A$ is even $p$-subordinate to $T$, then we obtain stronger results for the localisation of the spectrum of $T+A$.

Information

Type
Research Article
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and reproduction, provided the original article is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Edinburgh Mathematical Society.
Figure 0

Figure 1. Spectral inclusion from Proposition 3.2 and Theorem 3.4. The left graphic shows the location of the spectrum of $T$, the gray area in the graphics on the right shows the spectral enclosure of $T+A$ proved in Proposition 3.2 and Theorem 3.4. In the upper row we have $\gamma_1 = -\gamma_2$, in the lower row $0 \lt \gamma_1 \lt \gamma_2$. The upper red dashed line is the boundary of $\mathrm{i}\gamma_2 + \mathrm{Hyp}_{\gamma_2}$, the lower red dashed line is the boundary of $\mathrm{i}\gamma_1 - \mathrm{Hyp}_{\gamma_1}$. The green dotted lines are their asymptotes.

Figure 1

Figure 2. The set $\Omega(\alpha,\beta,\theta)=S_\theta(\beta)\cup-S_\theta(-\alpha)$.

Figure 2

Figure 3. Illustration for the proof of Theorem 4.6 and Lemma A.3 (ii). In (a), the lightblue half-plane is the plane $P$ above which the estimate (A.6) holds. The white regions in (b) and (d) correspond to the sets $\beta_T + \mathrm{e}^{\mathrm{i}\theta}\widetilde{\mathrm{Hyp}}_{\beta_T}$ and $\beta_T - \mathrm{e}^{-\mathrm{i}\theta}\widetilde{\mathrm{Hyp}}_{\beta_T}$, respectively. There, $\sup_{t\in\partial(S_{\theta}(\beta_T))} H_z(t) \lt 1$ holds. The red dashed lines indicate the asymptotes of the hyperbola. If we combine the guaranteed regions for the resolvent set from (b) and (d), we find that the spectrum of $T+A$ must be contained in the grey area in (e). The vertical blue line in (e) and (f) is the lower bound $\beta_{T+A}$ for the real part of the spectrum of $T+A$ in the case $b \lt \cos\theta$, so $\sigma(T+A)$ is contained in the grey area to its right. The graphic in (f) shows the spectral inclusion for a larger angle $\theta$.

Figure 3

Figure 4. Illustration of the spectral inclusion from Theorem 4.6 for different angles $\theta$. The blue sectors $\Omega(\alpha_T, \beta_T, \theta)$ contain the spectrum of $T$ and the spectrum of $T+A$ is contained in the grey area.

Figure 4

Figure 5. Localisation of the spectrum of $T+A$ in the case of Proposition 4.8 when $A$ is $T$-bounded and the spectrum of $T$ is contained in $\Omega(\alpha_T,\beta_T,\theta)\cup ( \mathbb{R} + \mathrm{i} [-\gamma_T,\gamma_T]$. The dashed lines in the left picture indicate the boundaries of $\Omega(\alpha_T,\beta_T,\theta)$. In the picture on the right, the grey area indicate the area that we get from Theorem 4.6. The green area shows the contribution from the strip $\mathbb{R}+\mathrm{i}[-\gamma_T,\gamma_t]$. Therefore the spectrum of $T+A$ is contained in the union of the colourekd areas.

Figure 5

Figure 6. Illustration of Proposition 5.1 when $\sigma(T)\subseteq \mathbb{C}\setminus \{\gamma_{1}\le \operatorname{Re}(z) \le \gamma_{2} \}$. In the upper row we have the special case $\gamma_1 = -\gamma_2$. The dashed red lines show the boundaries of the corresponding hyperbolas. The spectrum of $T+A$ is contained in coloured regions.

Figure 6

Figure 7. Illustration of Proposition 5.2 when $\sigma(T)\subseteq \mathbb{C}\setminus \{\gamma_{1}\le \operatorname{Re}(z) \le \gamma_{2},\ \eta_{1} \le \operatorname{Im}(z) \le \eta_{2} \}$. In the upper row we have the special case $\gamma_1 = -\gamma_2, \eta_1 = -\eta_2$. The dashed red lines show the boundaries of the corresponding hyperbolas. The white area is contained in $\rho(T+A)$.

Figure 7

Figure 8. Illustration of Proposition 5.3. If $\sigma(T)\subseteq \mathbb{C}\setminus \{|z| \lt R\}$, then $\sigma(T+A)\subseteq \mathbb{C}\setminus \{|z| \lt r\}$ with $r = R - \sqrt{a^2 + b^2 R^2}$.

Figure 8

Figure 9. Spectral inclusion for $T+A$ if $\sigma(T)\subseteq-S_{\theta_\alpha}(-\alpha)\cup S_{\theta_\beta}(\beta)$ with $\theta_\alpha\neq \theta_\beta$.

Figure 9

Figure 10. Spectral inclusion for $T+A$ if the $\sigma(T)$ is contained in several sectors symmetrically distributed around $0$.

Figure 10

Figure 11. Illustration of Theorem 5.5 when $\sigma(T)\subseteq \bigcup_{n\in\mathbb{N}} \{\beta_{n}\le \operatorname{Re}(z) \le \alpha_{n+1} \}$. The blue areas contain the spectrum of $T$, the shaded areas are enclosures for the spectrum of $T+A$.

Figure 11

Figure 12. The set $\Pi (\lambda) = \left\{z\in \mathbb{C}: \operatorname{Re} z \geq \lambda, \ | \operatorname{Im} z | \leq (\operatorname{Re} z - \lambda)^2 \right\}$.

Figure 12

Figure 13. Quantum star graph with Robin condition at the central vertex.

Figure 13

Figure A1. Illustration for the proof of Lemma A.1. If $h\in\mathbb{R}$, then $t' = z+ R\mathrm{e}^{\mathrm{i}(\phi+h)}$ varies on the red circle leaving $|z-t'|$ constant while $|t'|$ is strictly monotonic for $h$ in a neighbourhood of $0$.

Figure 14

Figure B1. Illustration for the proof of Lemma A.5 and the corresponding boundaries for the spectrum of $T+A$ from Theorem 4.6. In (a), the lightblue half-plane is the plane $P'$ above which the estimate (A.6’) for $\arg(z-\beta)\in(\theta, \theta+\pi)$ holds. The white regions in (b) and (d) correspond to the sets $\mathrm{e}^{\mathrm{i}\theta}(\beta_T\sin\theta + \mathrm{Hyp}_{\beta_T\sin\theta})$ and $\mathrm{e}^{-\mathrm{i}\theta}(-\beta_T\sin\theta - \mathrm{Hyp}_{\beta_T\sin\theta})$ respectively. There, $\sup_{t\in\partial(S_{\theta}(\beta_T))} H_z(t) \lt 1$ holds. Therefore, the spectrum of $T+A$ must be contained in the grey area in (e). The graphic in (f) shows the spectral inclusion for a larger angle $\theta$. The vertical blue line in (e) and (f) is the lower bound $\beta_{T+A}$ for the real part of the spectrum of $T+A$ in the case $b \lt \cos\theta$, so $\sigma(T+A)$ is contained in the grey area to its right.

Figure 15

Figure B2. Comparison of the estimates for the spectral enclosure obtained with the estimates from Lemma A.4 and Lemma A.5. The blue area is $S_{\theta}(\beta_T)$ for the angles $\theta=30^\circ$ and $\theta=10^\circ$ and $\beta_T=5$, $\beta_T=2$ and $\beta_T=-2$. The vertical blue line is the lower bound $\beta_{T+A}$ for the real part of the spectrum of $T+A$, so only the region to its right is of interest. The green area shows the enclosure for $\sigma(T+A)$ which corresponds to the estimates from Lemma A.4 that we used throughout this work. The red area shows the enclosure for $\sigma(T+A)$ which corresponds to the estimates from Lemma A.5. For large $|z|$ the green hyperbolas provide better estimates if $\beta_T \gt 0$ than those given by the red ones. If $\beta_T \lt 0$ the converse is true.