THE METHOD OF DIFFERENTIAL INEQUALITIES 271

dilations, it is rather evident that their generator D 1nust be a first order differential
operator in the variable A. To find its explicit form, observe that [F f · Qf) (k) ==
ik. \7 ](k) == iko ](k) I ok, where k == lkl. Now, with A == k 2 ' we have k (d/ dk) ==
2A(d/dA), and by (5.68): ](~w) == 2 112 A-(n- 2 )1 4 (U 0 f)A· Thus

(UoP · Qf)A(w) == 2- 1 / 2 A(n- 2 )/ 4 2iA~ j(~w)

8A
=-in~ (U 0 j)>..(W) + 2iA
2
:A (Uof)>.(W). (6.22)

It follows that
1 --7 --7 1 d
(UoD f) A == 4 [2(UoP · Qf)A in(Uof)A] == 4 [2i(Uof)A + 4iA dA (Uof)A].
This shows that, in the spectral representation of H 0 , D is the following differential
operator:
d
dA A). (6.23)

6.2 The method of differential inequalities

In this and the next section we develop the essential technical aspects of the Mourre
method. The proof of Theorem 6.3 contains the principal estimates leading to the
existence of the boundary values of (f, (H A iJ-L) 1 f) as J-L ---+ +0 for suitable
vectors f, under the assumption of positivity of the commutator [H, iA] between the
self-adjoint operator H under consideration and an auxiliary self-adjoint operator A.
Implications for the spectral properties of H are presented in Theorem 6.4 and in
Corollary 6.9.

6.2 . 1. We first discuss the differential inequality that one encounters the general set-
ting indicated in Comment (c) on page 268. It is similar to that given in the preceding
section but involves two additional terms on the right-hand side. Also it is useful to
admit operator-valued functions rather than just numerical functions. We let D and
Do be as in §6.1.1 and consider a norm-continuous function F: D ---+ B(H) that is
continuously differentiable with respect to the first variable c on (0, co) and satisfies
the following differential inequality on Do:

(6.24)

where the functions 19k: (0, co] ---+ [0, 00) satisfy ek :== foco19k(c)dc < 00 (k == 1, 2)
and where r > 0 is a constant. The aim is again to prove that F (0, p) converges
as fL -+ +0. We show below that the differential inequality (6.24) also leads to the
estimate (6.4 ), namely that
(6.25)
272 THE CONJUGATE OPERATOR METHOD

for some function fJ with foe: a fJ( c )de < oo. Once this estimate is established, the
existence of the limit u -lim fi-++O F (0, J-L) is obtained as in §6.1.1 [see the reasoning
after (6.4 ), in which I · I should be replaced by I · II]. For the applications it will be
ilnportant to have an explicit upper bound for IIF(c,f-L)II in terms of 81,82,/ and
cp(co), where cp(c) is again defined as cp(c) == sup 0 :;1-l:; 1IIF(c, f-L)II· Hence we must
carefully treat these constants in the derivation of the inequality (6.25).
REMARK. is important that the coefficients of the powers of II F (c, J-L) II in (6.24)
1
belong to L ( ( 0, E 0 )) (as functions of c) and also that they do not depend on the
variable f-L· The last property could be weakened, but this is not necessary for our
applications. Also one could replace the constant 1 in (6.24) by a function fJ 3 of finite
integral and require continuity of only on the subset Do of D.

PROOF OF (6.25). The inequality (6.24) implies that one has on D 0 :

(6.26)

We set /"\;1 == cp( co) + 81 and

We notice that 1/J(c, p) > 0 and that 1/;(co, J-L) == /"\; 1 for all f-L· We may now write (6.26)
in the short form
(6.27)
Finally we set TJ(c, J-L) == 1/J(c, J-L)e'(c:-c:o). Denoting again by a prime the differentia-
tion with respect to c and omitting the arguments c and f-L, we have for 0 < c < c0 :

77' == (1/Y' !1/J)e'(c:-c:a) > (1// riiFII)e'(c:-c:o)

== ( _rB2IIFII 112 - rll II+,,, ll)e'(c:-c:o) -fJ211FII 112 e'(c:-c:o)

follows that 6
! r1(c, 11) 1
/
2> -~192(c) > -172(c). (6.28)

Consequently, for 0 < c < co and all fL E [0, 1]:

6 Since 77( c, 11) > 0, division by 17( c, 11) 1 12 causes no problem.

 THE METHOD OF DIFFERENTIAL INEQUALITIES 273

This leads to the following estimate for II F (E, f-L) \I:

(6.29)

This bound valid on D, it is independent of E and f-L. Insertion of this estimate into
(6.24) gives the required inequality (6.25), with

Remark The functions F appearing in our applications will also depend on an

additional argument A. For each A in some interval J 0 , let p(:\): D - 7 B(H) be norm
continuous and continuously differentiable with respect to E for 0 < E < Eo (with
Eo < 1). Assume that each p(:\) satisfies the differential inequality (6.24), with 79 1 , V2

and r independent of A and J-L. Then the norm limit of p(:\) (0, J-L) as J-L - 7 +0 exists
for each fixed A E Jo. Moreover, setting ¢(c):== sup:\EJo sup ME[O,l] IIF(:\) (c, J-L) \J, the
following bound for p(:\) ( E, J-L) is satisfied for all A E J 0 , E E [0, co] and J-L E [0, 1]:

with ~1 -¢(co) 81. (6.30)

6.2.2. We now turn to the question of resolvent estimates and begin with a simple pre-
liminary result which will be very useful in what follows.

Lemma 6.2. Let A be a self-adjoint operator in a Hilbert space H and C E B(H).

Assume that there exists an operator Z E B(H) such that (C*j,Ag)- \Af,Cg)-
\f, Zg) for all j, g E V(A). Then C maps V(A) into V(A); hence CA- AC is
defined on V(A) and has an extension to B(H) (given by Z, which is identical with
the closure of the operator CA- AC).

PROOF. Letj,gEV(A).Byassumptionwehave(Aj,Cg) == (f,CAg) (j,Zg)-

\f, g*), with g* == GAg Zg E H. So Cg E V(A *) V(A) and A *Cg ACg - =
g*-CAg-Zg. D

Now let H and A be self-adjoint operators in a Hilbert space H. We denote by

{ E ( ·)} the spectral measure of H. One says that a strict Mourre inequality is satisfied
on an open interval J if there exists a number a > 0 such that

E(J)[H, iA]E(J) > aE(J). (6.31)

This means that on the subspace M(J) E(J)H, the operator [H, iA] is strictly
7
positive, namely larger that a.
In order for (6.31) to make sense, it is necessary to define a scalar product, corre-
sponding to the commutator [H, iA], for vectors in the range of E(J). We first treat
the situation where His a bounded operator which we denote by T, whereas the case
7 Recall that S ~ T means that (f, Sf) ~ (f, T f) for each f E 7i [we assu1ne here that S and T
belong to B(7i)].
274 THE CONJUGATE OPERATOR METHOD

of unbounded H will be discussed further on (see page 286ff.). So letT E B(H). For
j, g E V(A) the number (j, [T, iA]g) is then well defined if one sets

(J, [T,iA]g) == i(Tj,Ag)- i(Aj,Tg).

We make the assumption that there exists an operator B E B(H) such that

(j, [T, iA ]g) == (j, Bg) Vj,gEV(A), (6.32)

and we then say that the closure of [T, iA] belongs to B(H). Indeed, by Lemma 6.2,
Eq. (6.32) implies that T maps V(A) into V(A). Then [T, iA]g == iTAg- iATg is
well defined for each g E V(A): [T, iA] defines a symmetric operator on the dense
domain V(A), and by virtue of (6.32) this symmetric operator has an extension B (its
closure) to B(H). It is clear that B is self-adjoint (closure of a bounded symmetric
operator).
We shall also need the second commutator ofT with A, more precisely the operator
[[T, iA], iA] [B, iA]. By analogy with the preceding developments, we assume that
there exists an operator Z E B(H) such that

(j, [B,iA]g) i(Bj,Ag)- i(Aj,Bg) == (f,Zg) Vj, g E V(A), (6.33)

hence that [B~ iA] has an extension Z to B(H). However we prefer to use the notation
[B, , rather than Z, for this extension [so we use the same notation [B, iA J for the
symmetric operator on V(A) defined by the left-hand side of (6.33) and for its closure
in B(H)].
The next theorem involves the operator IAiv for v > 1/2. This operator is de-
fined by the functional calculus: /Aiv == f~co /Aiv EA(dA), where {EA(-)} denotes
the spectral measure of A. Let us observe that IIAJII == IIIAIJII iff E V(A), because
each of these norms is equal to [ J~=,A?mj( dA) J
112
.

Theorem 6.3 . Let T E B(H) be self-adjoint. Assume that there exists a self-adjoint
operator A such that the closure B of [T, iA] and the closure of [B, iA] i [[T, iA], A]
belong to B(H) and such that a strict Mourre inequality is satisfied on some open in-
terval J, i.e.
E(J)BE(J) > aE(J) with a> 0, (6.34)
where {E( ·)} is the spectral measure ofT. Let v > 1/2. Then the norm limits
u-lim 1L-++o(I /AI)-u(T- A iJ-L)- 1 (1 IAI)-v exist for each A E J. In par-
1
ticular, (j, (T- A irt)- g) converges as IL----+ +0 for all j, g E V(/Aiv) and each
A E J. Moreover, if Jo is a bounded closed subinterval of J, then

sup //(I /AI)-v(T- A iJ-L)- 1 (1 /A/)-vll < 00. (6.35)

A.EJo,JL>O

REMARKS. (a) We shall see later that the limits in Theorem 6.3 exist in fact uni-
formly in A E J 0 if ~lo is any bounded closed subinterval of J.
(b) If A belongs to the spectrum ofT, then the limits of (j, (T- A iJ-L)- 1!) and
 THE METHOD OF DIFFERENTIAL INEQUALITIES 275

(f, (T- A-itL )- 1f) as fL -+ +0, denoted somewhat formally by (f, (T- A i0)- 1f),
are not the same.
(c) The hypotheses of boundedness of [T, A] and [[T, A], A] are not trivial. Indeed it
is not difficult to show that, if CT(T) n J # 0 and A is bounded, then the inequality
(6.32) can be satisfied only for a < 0. 8 Thus the validity of (6.32) for some a > 0 (and
J non-disjoint from the spectrum of T) implies that A is an unbounded operator [if
CT(T) n J == 0, then E( J) == 0 and (6.32) is trivially satisfied for each a E IR~ but this
is uninteresting in the context of the Mourre method, since then (T- A)- 1 E B(H)
forAEJ].
(d) It is possible to obtain the conclusions of the theorem with the assumption of
boundedness of [B, iA] replaced by a weaker condition.

PROOF OF THEOREM 6.3. The proof is carried out in three parts: (1) definition and
properties of GE, (2) establishment of a differential inequality of the form (6.24), (3)
boundary values of the resolvent as an application of the results of §6.2.1. We shall
only treat the limit of (T- A- itL)- 1 as fL -+ +0. The limit of (T- A+ itL)- 1
(/L-+ +0) is obtained in an analogous way. We fix a closed subinterval Jo == [a, p] of
J, and we assume throughout the proof that z - A+ ilL with A E J 0 and 0 < fL < 1. In
calculations in which z is fixed, we sometimes omit the argument z.
We shall denote by Ck ( k == 1, 2, 3, ... ) various constants occurring in the proof.
Their value is of no importance for arriving at the conclusions of the theorem. What
matters is the fact that all these constants will be independent of A and fL, of the
parameter c: and of the considered vectors f, g, h. For the moment we define c 1 by

(6.36)

Finally, without loss of generality, we can assume in the proof that v < 1 (because
(I IAI)-v < (I+ IAI)- 1 if v > 1). The hypothesis that v > 1/2 is necessary in
order for I<I>~ I to be integrable at c: == 0, see (6.56).
(1) Definition and properties of GE
As pointed out in Comment (c) on page 268, we wish to define G E ( z), for 0 < c: < 1
and z == A + ifL (A E Jo), by

(6.37)

We must show that the operator (T- A- itL- ic:B) is invertible in B(H).
(i) For c: E [0, 1] we define Nj:- E B(H) by Nj:- == T- -A i(tL c:B). Clearly
II N(= II < 4c 1 . We fix a number 5 > 0 chosen sufficiently small so that the interval
[a - 5, p 5] is contained in J. We write I == E Ej_ withE == E([a - 5, p + 5])
8 Let A E a(T)nJ. By Proposition 4.20(b) there exists a sequence of vectors {fk} in E( J)7i satisfying
llfk II = 1 and II (T- A)fk II ----7 0. Assume A to be bounded. Then (6.32) in1plies that
a= alifkll 2 :S (fk, [T, iA]fk) = (fk, [T- A, iA]fk) = i((T- A)jk,Afk)- i(Afk, (T- A)fk)
:S 211 (T- A)fk llliAfk II :S 2IIA II II (T - .A)fk II 0 as k
----7 oo,
----7

hence a :S 0.
276 THE CONJUGATE OPERATOR METHOD

and Ej_ == E(IR \[a- 5, {3 + 5]). Let us observe immediately that, if A E J 0 == [a, {3]
and fL > 0 [using (4.51)]:

Consequently one has for each g E H:

11Ej_gll 2 ==II(T- A iJ-L)- 1 Ej_(N~ =f ic:B)gll 2

< I (T- A iJ-L)- 1 Ej_ 11 2 11 (N~ =f ic:B)gll 2
2
<
02
[11N;=gll 2 + E 2 c1llgll 2 ] · (6.39)

(ii) The assumption (6.34) implies that aE < EBE 9

. Thus, for each g E H:
allgll 2 == aiiEgll 2 ai1Ej_gll 2 == a(g,Eg) + a11Ej_gll 2 < (g,EBEg) ai1Ej_gll 2 .
(6.40)
By using the inequality I(f, h) (h, f) I < 11!11 2 + llhll 2 (see page 3) one finds that

(g,EBEg) == (g,Bg) - (g,BEj_g) - (g,Ej_Bg) + (Ej_g,BEj_g)

= (g Bg)- (.;a g _'!:_BEj_g)- ( _'!:_BEj_g fog) (Ej_g,BEj_g)
' 2 'Fa Fa ' 2
< (g,Bg) + [ ~ llgll 2 ~ IIBII 2 11Ej_gll 2 ] + IIBIIIIEj_gll 2
(g,Bg) + ~llgll + c1IIEj_gll ·
2 2
<

Insertion of this inequality into (6.40) leads to (using a+ c 1 < 2c1 )

Let us choose co E (0, 1) such that 4c:5cr/ 5 2 < aj 4. We find that, for 0 < c: < Eo,
A E Jo and f-L > 0:

VgEH. (6.41)

This is the basic inequality for the proof.

(iii) Let us give a first application of the basic inequality (6.41). Since 1-L > 0, this
inequality implies that

ac: + J-L 4c1E ±

2
llgll 2 < (g, (c:B + tL)g) +52 liNe gll 2 · (6.42)

9 One has E = EE(J) = E(J)E; hence, if hE 7-i:

a(h, Eh) = a(Eh, E(J)Eh) :S (Eh, E(J)BE(J)Eh) = (h, EBEh).
 THE METHOD OF DIFFERENTIAL INEQUALITIES 277

Because (g, (T :\)g) isreal, one has (g, (c:B+J1)g) == ±2s(g,Nt-g) < l(g,Nt-g)l <
llgiiii1Vt-gll· Consequently (using the bound liNt- II < 4c1)
16cic: J
()2 . (6.43)

Assume that c: I 0 or p, I 0. After division by I! gil the inequality (6.43) has the form
liNt-gil > wllgll for some w > 0 and for each g E H. Hence Nt-g == 0 implies that
g == 0, i.e. the operators Nt- are invertible. Moreover R( Nt-) are closed and one has
II (Nt-)- 11 < w- (see Lemma 3.1).
1 1

Now by Proposition 2.19(b): R(Nt-)j_ == N((Nt-)*) == N(N!) == {0}. Since

R(Nt-) are closed, this implies that R(N1=) -H. Thus GE == (N;) 1 is defined on
Hand hence belongs to B(H), with

1 2
i11) II < -w - as + M[1

One sees that Gc(:X iM) E B(H) if E I 0 or if fL I 0. If one assumes in addition

that Eo is chosen so small that 16cic:o/ 5 2 < 1, the preceding estimate is simplified as
follows:
(for 0 < c: < Eo, J1 > 0). (6.44)

In the remainder of the proof it is always understood that c: < c: 0 .

(iv) It will be useful to know that, if E > 0, then Gc(:X iM) depends continuously
on A and 11· Setting z == A ijj and z0 == :\ 0 + ijjo, one has

GE (z) - GE (zo) == GE (z) [N; (zo) - N; (z)]GE (zo) == GE (z) [z- zo]GE (zo).
Consequently, by virtue of (6.44):

(6.45)

(v) Finally we deduce a useful estimate on GE. Let h E H and set g == GEh in
(6.42) (remember that 11 > 0):

c:a 2 4c1E
2IIGchll < (Gch, (c:B + !L)Gch) + 52llhll 2
-;i (Gch, (N: - Nc-)Gch)
4
~~C llhll 2 • (6.46)

Now observe that N;GE == I and (G; N:)* == N:*GE - N;GE I, hence
c;N: - I and consequently c;
(N: N; )GE == GE - Thus c;.

and (6.46) implies that

278 THE CONJUGATE OPERATOR METHOD

Thus
(6.47)

Let Y E B(H) be a self-adjoint operator satisfying IIYII < 1. By taking h - Yf in

(6.47) and setting c2 == ~ + 5- 1 jSCJa, one gets the following inequality:

(6.48)

The same inequality can be obtained for IIG;YII by setting g == G;h in (6.42) and
observing that G; == (N:) - 1 . So

(6.49)

(2) The differential inequality

(i) We first calculate the derivative G~(z) == (8/8c)Gc;(z). If X andY are invert-
ible operators in B(H), with x- 1 , y- 1 E B(H), then one has the identity x- 1 y- 1
== x- 1 (Y- X)Y- 1 . Hence
GT Gc; == (T- A- iJ-L- iTB)- 1 - (T- A iJ-L- icB)- 1
==i(T-E)(T A-iJ-L-iTB)- 1 B(T-A iJ-L-icB)- 1 . (6.50)

Since II (T- A- iJ-L- iTB)- 1 11 < 4/(aT) by (6.44), one deduces from Eq. (6.50) that
IIGT- Gc;ll -7 0 as T - 7 E (c # 0). Thus Ef--t Gc; is continuous in norm. By dividing
(6.50) byT-E and then taking the limit T - 7 E (which exists in norm), one finds that
(8/ 8E )Gc; == iGc;BGc;. Hence E f--t Gc; is of class C 1 in the norm of B(H). The same
reasoning as that leading to (6.9) gives the following result (use the formal identity
[A,X- 1 ] == x- 1 [X,A]X- 1 ):

[A.Gc;] == Gc;[T- A- iJ-L- icB,A]Gc; == Gc;[T,A]Gc;- icGc;[B,A]Gc;

- -iGc;BGc;- icGc;[B,A]Gc; == -G~- icGc;[B,A]Gc;. (6.51)

As in §6.1.2 this argument is somewhat formal, we have not considered the domain
questions. The right-hand side of (6.51) belongs to B(H) as a consequence of the
hypotheses of the theorem. The left-hand side has a meaning between vectors f and
g belonging to V(A) (i.e. (j, [A, Gc;]g) is well defined for such vectors). Thus (6.51)
has a meaning between j, g E V(A), and it is in this form that it will be used [see Eq.
(6.55)]. We indicate a more careful proof of (6.51) in §6.2.3. Here we rewrite (6.51)
in the following form [which has a meaning between j, g E V(A)]:

G~(A + iJ-L) == [Gc;(A iJ-L),A]- icGc;(A + ip,)[B,A]Gc;(A iJ-L). (6.52)

(ii) For c > 0 we set Xc; == (ciAI + I)- 1 . Clearly R(Xc;) - V(IAI) _ V(A).
Moreover IIXcll < 1, s-limc;--tO Xc; ==I and, ifO < {3 < 1:

IIIAI 13 Xcll =sup .riJ =sup (y/c:)/3 = c:~/3 sup L < c:~ 13 • (6.53)
x 2:0 EX +1 y 2:0 y +1 y 2:0 y +1
 THE METHOD OF DIFFERENTIAL INEQUALITIES 279

10
We also set Z == (I+ IAI)-z/ and define

<Pc(A + itL) ==(I \AI)-v XcGc(A i{L)Xc(I IAI)-v- XcZGcZXc. (6.54)

ByusingtheLeibnizrule, the relation X~== -IAI(ciAI I)- 2 == -IAIX; and finally
(6.52), one obtains that

(_p~ == - IAIX; ZGCZXC- xczcczx;IAI + XCZG~ZXC

== -I A IX; zcczxc- xczcczx;IAI + xczccAzxc- xcAzcczxc
- icXCZGc[B,A]GcZXC. (6.55)

To estimate the norms of the individual terms in the last expression for <P ~, we write
IAIZXC as IAiv Z · IAI 1-v XC. For the first term we then obtain:
1
v~YcllliGcZXcll < Ev- IIGcZXcll~
1
IIIAIX;zcczxcll < IIXciiii1AIVZIIIIIAI
where the last inequality is obtained by using II XC II < 1, IIIAiu Z\1 < 1 and (6.53).
Similarly the norm of the second term is bounded by cv- 1 \IXcZGcll· For the third
term one obtains in the same way:
1 1
\\XcZGcAZXcll < IIXcZGcii!IIAiv ZIIIIIAI -v Xc I! < cu- \IXcZGc\\,
and the norm of the fourth term is bounded by cv- 1\IGcZXcll· So (6.55) leads to the
inequality

From (6.48) and (6.49), with Y == ZXC XCZ, we see that each of the norms
IIGcZXcll and IIXcZGcll is bounded by c2(l c- 112II<Pcll 112). So, by taking into
account the inequality II [B, A] II < c1 and remembering that v < 1, hence 1 < cu- 1,
one finally obtains the estimate
(6.56)

with c3 == 4c2 + 2c1 c~.

(3) Boundary values of the resolvent
The differential inequality (6.56) is of the form (6.24), with p(>.) (c, M) == <Pc(A +ilL),
191 (c) == C3Cv- 1' 192 (c) == C3Cv- 3 12 and r == C3 (see also Remark 6.1 ). Since v > 1/2,
f
the integrals 8k _ 0c0 19k(c)dc- are finite. So, by the results of §6.2.1, <Po(A + itL)
(I+ IAI)-v(T A- itL)- 1(I + IAI)-v converges as fL---+ +0. Furthermore
¢(co) sup sup II<Pc 0 (A+itL)II
>.EJo o::;p,::;1
== sup sup II (I \AI) u X co Gco (A+ i{L )Xco (I+ IAI)-u II
AE.lo o::;p,::;1
<sup sup IIGc 0 (A+'iM)il < ~.
>. E J o o::; p,::; 1 ac:: o
10 If v = 1 the arguments leading to (6.56) can be somewhat simplified: in this case one 1nay set Xc = I
and use IIAZII = IIIAIZII ::; 1.
280 THE CONJUGATE OPERATOR METHOD

So (6.30) shows that IIF(.\)(c,fL)II II<I>c:(A it-£)11 < c4 for some constant c4
which we do not write down explicitly [we recall that A E J 0 , 0 < tL < 1 and
E E [0, co)]. Since one has II(I IAI)-v(T- A- itL)- 1 (I + IAI)-vll < 1 if IMI > 1,
the proof of (6.35) is complete. The convergence of (f, (T- A- itL)- 1 g) as tL --7 +0,
for f, g E V(IAiv), is now obtained by writing f- (I+ IAI)-v }, g == (I IAI)-v g
withj,gEH. D
Theorem 6.4 . Assume that the hypotheses ojTheore1n 6.3 are satisfied. Then
(a) The spectrum ofT in J is purely absolutely continuous. In other terms as (T) n J ==
0, or equivalently E(J)H C Hac(T).
(b) The convergence of(I IAI)-v(T- A itL)(I + IAI)-v as tL --7 +0 is uniform in
A on each bounded closed subinterval J 0 of J, and the limit defines a norm continuous
function of A: if one sets X(A) == u -limM-t+O(I IAI)-v (T- A- itL)- 1 (I IAI)-v,
then IIX(A)- X(Ao) II --7 0 as A --7 Ao (with A, Ao E J).
PROOF. (a) In view of Theorem 6.3, the result of (a) follows from Proposition 4.3l(b)
by taking V- V(IAiv) in that proposition; the required condition of uniformity in A
of lirn 11 ---t+O (f, (T - A if];) - 1 f) is satisfied by part (b) of the present theorem.
(b) Let J 0 be a bounded closed subinterval of J. We let Eo > 0 be as in the preced-
ing proof and use some estimates obtained there, valid for 0 < E < Eo. Let A, Ao E J 0
and fL, tLo E [0, 1]. We have

/I <I> o(A + i tL) - <I> o(Ao + i tLo ) II < II <I> o(A i tL) - <I> c: (A + i tL) II
II<I> c: (A + i tL) - <I> c: ( Ao + i fLo) II + II<I> o(Ao i {Lo) - <I> c: ( Ao + i tLo) II· (6. 57)
Now
II<I>o(A if.L) <I>c(A i~L)II <lac II~ <I>p(A + i~L)II dp.
Since II<I>c:(A + itL)II < c4 , we see from (6.56) that the integrand is majorised by an
integrable function which does not depend on A and M· Thus, given 6 > 0, we can
choose a number E > 0 such that the first and the third term on the right-hand side of
(6.57) are less than 6/3 for all A, Ao E Jo and all fL, tLo E [0, 1]. For the second term
we have by (6.45):

For A == Ao this is less than 6/3 if fL, tLo < a 2 c 2 6/48. Then the expression on the left-
hand side of (6.57) is less than 6 for all t-£, tLo satisfying the preceding condition and
for all A == Ao E Jo, which proves that the convergence of <I>o (A i tL) to <I>o (A iO)
is uniform in A on Jo.
Next, taking tL == /Lo == 0 in (6.57), we see that its left-hand side is less than 6 if
A- Ao < a 2 c2 6/48, which establishes the norm continuity of X(A) <I>o(A + iO)
on J0 , hence on J since each A E J belongs to some bounded closed subinterval J 0 of
the interval J. D
 THE METHOD OF DIFFERENTIAL INEQUALITIES 281

6. 2 . 3 . We now present an extension of Lemma 6.2 and some applications of this result.

Proposition 6. 5.. Let A be a self-adjoint operator in a Hilbert space H and let C E

B(H). ForT E JR, set C(r) - eiATce-iAT. Assume that there exists an operator
Z E B(H) such that (C*j,Ag)- (Aj,Cg) (j,Zg) for all vectors j,g E V(A).
1
Then T f--t C(r) is strongly of class C , and (d/dr)C(r)IT=O == -iZ. lffurtherlnore
Cis invertible with c- 1 E B(H), then

(cy- 1 *f,Ag)- (Af, c- 1 g) == -(J, c- 1zc- 1 g) \lj,gEV(A), (6.58)

and c- 1 maps V(A) into V(A).

REMARK. Formally these results are evident. For example:

j__C(r)j - !!:_eiATce-iATI - eiAT[iAC- iCA]e-iATI

dT T=O dT T=O T=O
- i[A, C] == -iZ.

The purpose of the proposition is to give a rigourous meaning to this formal calculation.
PROOF OF PROPOSITION 6.5. (i) Let g E V(A). Let us write

I _ e- iAs e iAs I )
!_ ( eiAs Ce-iAs C)g- ( eiAsc . g - - - .- Cg.
c zc: zc:
Since g and Cg belong to V(A) (see Lemma 6.2), the right-hand side converges
strongly as c: ---+ 0, the limit being GAg ACg. Thus

. d ( e iAsc e -iAs
z- C)gls=O- GAg- ACg == Zg forgE V(A)
dE
(the last identity follows also from Lemma 6.2). Now observe that

~ [eiA(r+c:)ce-iA( r+c:) - ( eiAT ce-iAT] g = eiAT [~ ( eiAc:ce-iAc: C)] e-"Arg.

(6.59)
From Proposition 5.1 we have e-iATg E V(A). By the preceding result the right-hand
side of (6.59) is strongly convergent as c: ---+ 0, and

Thus we have for all g E V(A) and all C5 E JR:

eiAa C e -iAag (6.60)

Since all operators occurring in this identity belong to B(H) and since V(A) is dense
in H, Eq. (6.60) can be extended to each g E H [approximate g by a sequence {gk} E
V(A), write (6.60) for gk and then take the limit k ---+ oo]. Now the right-hand side of
282 THE CONJUGATE OPERATOR METHOD

(6.60) is strongly differentiable with respect to a (for each g E 7-i), consequently this
is also the case for the left-hand side, and

(ii) Now assume in addition that cis invertible with c- 1 E B(H). Set c- 1(T) ==
eiATc- 1e-iAT. Then c- 1(T)C( T) - I, and the following identity is evident:

(6.61)

Now s-limT--tO c- 1(7) == c- 1 and s-limT--tO T- 1[C(T)- CJ == -iZ. Thus (6.61)

implies that c- 1(T) is strongly differentiable at T == 0, and

(6.62)

Eq. (6.58) follows easily by calculating the derivative, using the Leibniz rule: iff and
g belong to V(A), then

!i_(fC-1(7)
dT ' g
)I T=O
== !i_(e-iATf c-1e-iAT
dT ' g
)I T=O

== i(Af, c- 1g)- i(f, c- 1Ag) == i(Af, c- 1g)- i(C- 1*j, Ag).

The fact that c- 1 maps V(A) into itself follows from Lemma 6.2. D

As a first application of Proposition 6.5, we give a rigourous derivation of the for-

mula (6.51). We take c - N;, hence c- 1 - GE GE(A iJ-L). To obtain (6.51)
from Proposition 6.5, one has to know that

((T- A- if-L icB)*f,Ag)- (Af, (T A- itL icB)g) == (f,Zg)

for some operator Z E B(H) and all f, g E V(A). The terms involving the constants A
and fL on the left-hand side cancel, whereas for T and B this condition is satisfied as
a consequence of the hypotheses (6.32) and (6.33) of Theorem 6.3. We thus have by
Eq. (6.58):

\lf,gEV(A),
where

Z -- z.!i_
dT [e iATN-
E e
-iATJ I _ -- z.!i_
dT [e iATT e -iAT
T- 0

The derivatives can be obtained by using Proposition 6.5 (with C == T and with
C ==B):

dT e iATr e -iAT IT_- 0

z. !i_ __ z·n ,
- (6.63)
 THE MOURRE INEQUALITY 283

Thus one has for all f, g E D(A):

which is identical with Eq. (6.51). Proposition 6.5 also implies that Gc maps D(A)
into itself. D
As a second application of Proposition 6.5 we give a result that will be of great
importance in the next section.

Proposition 6.6 (Virial Theorem). Let T and A be self-adjoint operators, with T E

B(H), such that the closure B of [T, iA] also belongs to B(H). Let f and g be eigen-
vectors ofT with the same eigenvalue A: T f == Aj, Tg == Ag. Then (f,Bg) - 0.

PROOF. Formally the conclusion is clear, it suffices to open the commutator:

(f,Bg) == i(Tf,Ag)- i(Af,Tg) == iA[(f,Ag)- (Af,g)] == 0.

This argument is only formal because one does not know that f and g belong to
D(A). A rigourous argument is as follows. We set T(T) == eiArre-iAr. Then T(T)
is strongly of class C 1 by Proposition 6.5, and (d/dT)T(T)Ir=O ==-B. Writing f as
f == s-lim r-+O eiAr f, we obtain by virtue of Proposition 1.1 (b):

(f,Bg) ==-lim l_(f, {T(T)- T}g) ==-lim l_(eiArf, {T(T)- T}g)

T-+OT T-+OT
-lim ~{(TJ,e-iArg) (eiArf,Tg)}
T-+OT

Since (f,e-iArg)- (ezArf,g), we have (f,Bg) == 0. D

6.3 The Mourre inequality

The results obtained so far were consequences of the hypothesis of the validity of a
strict Mourre inequality E(J)[H, iA]E(J) > aE(J) with a> 0, where J is an open
interval. A weaker condition, which is more easy to verify in concrete situations, is
the validity of such an inequality modulo a compact operator. More precisely, if H is a
self-adjoint operator and J an open interval, one says that a self-adjoint operator A is
conjugate to H on J if there exist a number a > 0 and a self-adjoint compact operator
K such that
E(J)[H, iA]E(J) > aE(J) + K. (6.64)
This is called aMourre inequality. We have seen that a strict Mourre inequality (6.31)
implies that the part of the spectrum of H in J is absolutely continuous. We shall
show that the validity of a Mourre inequality (6.64) leads to almost the same con-
clusion: the continuous spectrum of H in J is absolutely continuous, i.e. H has no
284 THE CONJUGATE OPERATOR METHOD

singular continuous spectrum in J~ however H may have eigenvalues in J, but each

of these eigenvalues is of finite multiplicity and their number is finite. These state-
ments will be proved in §6.3.1, again in the case in which His bounded (we again use
the letter T for such an operator).

6.3.1. LetT E B(H) be a self-adjoint operator and A an operator that is conjugate to

Ton some open interval J. So A is self-adjoint and there exist a number a > 0 and a
cornpact operator K such that
E(J)BE(J) > aE(J) K, (6.65)
where B [T, iA] is assumed to belong to B (H) and { E ( ·)} denotes again the
spectral measure ofT.
Proposition 6.7. Assume that the closure B of [T, iA] belongs to B(H) and that A is
conjugate to T on an open interval J. Then the number of eigenvalues of T (if any)
in J is finite, and each o.f these eigenvalues is offinite multiplicity.
PROOF. We denote by Mp(J) the subspace of H spanned by all eigenvectors ofT
associated with the eigenvalues in J. We must show that dimMp(J) < oo. Assume
that this is not the case, i.e. that dim Mp( J) == oo. Then we can choose an infinite
orthonormal sequence {fj} of vectors in Mp( J) such that I fj I == 1 and T fj == Aj fj,
where A.7 is an eigenvalue ofT in J. The inequality (6.65) implies that
(f.J,BfjJ > aiif.711 2 (fj,KfjJ -a (fj,KfjJ·
But (fj, B f.J) == 0 by the Virial Theorem, hence
0 >a (fi,KfjJ Vj EN. (6.66)
Now I(fj, Kfj) I < llfj 1111Kf.711 == IIKfj II, and IIKfj I ----+ 0 as j ----+ oo [the sequence
{f1 } converges weakly to zero by Example 1.2, hence { K fj} converges strongly to
zero by Proposition 2.12(a) since K is a compact operator]. By taking the limit j ----+ oo
in (6.66), one obtains 0 > a, which contradicts the hypothesis that a > 0. D

Theorem 6.8. LetT E B(H) be self-adjoint. Assume that there exists a self-adjoint
operator A such that the closure B of [T,iA] and [B,A] i[[T,A],A] belong to
B(H) and such that the Mourre inequality is satisfied on an open interval J. i.e.
E(J)BE(J) > aE(J) K with a > 0, K E JC(H). (6.67)
Let v > 1/2. Then
(a) If A E J is not an eigenvalue ofT, then (I IAI)-v(T A iJ-L)- 1 (1 IAI)-z/
converge in norm as J-L----+ +0. The convergence is uniform in A E Jo on each bounded
closed subinterval Jo of J\ (J"p(T), and the limit operators depend continuously (in
nornz) on A in J\(J"p(T). Furthermore, for J 0 as above:
sup II(I IAI)-v(T- A iJ-L)- 1 (1 IAI)-vll < 00. (6.68)
A.EJo ,f-L>O

(b) If Jo is as in (a), one has E( Jo )H C Hac (T).

 THE MOURRE INEQUALITY 285

PROOF. (i) We shall prove in (ii) below the following fact: If A belongs to J\ ap (T),
there exists a number b,\ > 0 such that a strict Mourre inequality is satisfied on the
interval (A - b,\, A b,\), more precisely such that

where a is the constant in (6.67). So the first convergence result stated in (a) fol-
lows from Theorem 6.3. Then, by Theorems 6.3 and 6.4, the statements involving a
bounded closed subinterval J 0 of J\ ap(T) are true on each interval J 0 of the form
[A- c,\, A c,\] if 0 < c,\ < b,\, hence also on each open interval (A- c,\, A c,\)
with c,\ E (0, b,\). For an arbitrary subinterval J 0 == [a, ;3] of J\ ap(T) these results
follow easily by observing that J 0 can be covered by a finite number of intervals of
the form (A c,\, A+ c,\) with A E [a, ;3] and c,\ as above.
(ii) We now prove (6.69). We use the following fact: If C, ME B(H) and C > 0,
then M*CM > 0 [see Lemma 4.33(b)].
Let A E J\ ap (T). We choose E > 0 such that (A- E, A E) C J. Upon multiplying
(6.65) on the left and on the right byE( (A- b, A+ b)), where 0 < b < E, one obtains
by observing that E( J)E( (A b, A b)) - E( J n (A b, A b)) == E( (A b, A b)):

E ( (A b, A + <5)) BE ( (A - b, A <5))
>aE((A-b,A+b)) E((A-b,A+b))KE((A b,A b)). (6.70)

Now s-lims-+o E((A- b, A b)) == E( {A}) == 0 (A is a point of continuity of the

spectral family {EM}). Consequently liKE( (A-b, A+b)) II ----+ 0 as b----+ 0 [Proposition
2.12(b)]. Hence there exists a number b,\ E ( 0, E) such that 11

Upon multiplying the second of these inequalities from the left and from the right by
E((A- b,\, A b,\)), one obtains

E( (A- 5>.., A 5>-.))KE((A 5>.., A 5>..)) > -~ E((A- 5>.., A 5>..)). (6.71)

By taking b- b,\ in (6.70) and taking into account (6.71), one obtains (6.69). D

The following consequences of Theorem 6.8 and Proposition 6.7 are easy to verify
(Problem 6.5):
Corollary 6.9. Under the hypotheses of Theorem 6.8, the operator T has no singular
continuous spectru1n in J, i.e. asc(T) n J- 0, the number of eigenvalues ofT in J
is finite (or zero), and each of these eigenvalues is offinite multiplicity.
11
If C == C* and IICII :s; ~'and if {E 0 (·)} denotes the spectral measure of C, one has E 0 (V) ==
E0 (V n [-~,~])(the spectrum of Cis contained in the interval [-~,~]).Hence, by setting mj(W) ==
IIE 0 (W)fll 2 :
r;,(f,f) = r;, l: rnf ( d>..) 2'. /_: Arnf ( d>..) = (!, C.f) 2'. -r;, /_: rnf ( d>..) = -r;,(f, f).
286 THE CONJUGATE OPERATOR METHOD

6.3 . 2. The principal results of Mourre theory obtained so far are valid if the operator
T is replaced by a general self-adjoint operator which will be denoted by H. The idea
of their proof is the same, but for unbounded H one has to take into account domain
properties, which lengthens the arguments. For example one has to give a meaning to
the operators [H, iA] and [[H, A], A] which are not bounded (this is seen already in the
simple case in which H is the free Hamiltonian P2 in £ 2 (JRn); a conjugate operator
to P2 is the operator D introduced in (6.19), and we have seen that [P2 , iD] == P2 , so
this commutator is unbounded). Thus one will have to impose conditions relating the
domains of H and A. For example, it is required in many approaches that the group
{ e-iAs}sEIR: should leave the domain D(H) of H invariant, i.e. that e-iAsj E D(H)
for each f E D(H) and each s E JR.
If the spectru1n of H does not cover the entire real axis, i.e. if p( H) n JR is non-
empty, one can make use of the results obtained so far by introducing the bounded self-
adjoint operator 7 1
:-H- Ao) - 1 , where Ao is a fixed real number in the resolvent set
(

p(H) of H. The mapping A ~ 1/ (A- Ao) gives a one-to-one correspondence between

the spectrum of H and that ofT, which allows one to relate the spectral properties of
H to those of T and to transform a Mourre inequality for H into a Mourre inequality
forT. One then arrives rather easily at the following theorem:
Theorem 6.10. Let H be a self-adjoint operator in a Hilbert space H such that Ao E
p(H) for some Ao E JR. Assume that there exists a self-adjoint operator A such that
the closures of [(H- Ao) 1 , iA] and [[(H- Ao)- 1 , A], A] belong to B(H) and such
that, .for a bounded open interval J:

E(~l)[H, iA]E(J) > aE(J) K with a> 0, K E JC(H), (6.72)

where { E( ·)} denotes the spectral 1neasure of H. Then all conclusions of Theorem
6.8 (with T replaced by H) are true, and the spectrum of H in J is as described in
Corollary 6.9.
In §6.4.2 we give the proof of this theorem when H is a Schrodinger operator.
Except for some domain considerations 12 , the proof of Theorem 6.10 in the general
case is exactly the same.

6.4 Application to Schrodinger operators

The 1nain purpose of this section is to apply the general theory to two-body Schro-
dinger Hamiltonians in the centre-of-mass frame with scattering-type potentials. Such
Ha1niltonians are unbounded self-adjoint operators. However they are bounded from
below and therefore covered by Theorem 6.1 0. §6.4.1 we discuss the necessary
commutators and state sufficient conditions on the potential V so that the the Mourre
method is applicable. Certain more technical aspects are presented in §6.4.2 and §6. 7 .2.

12
The necessary domain properties, all of which are consequences of the assumption that the commutator
[(H- .Ao) 1 , iA] belongs to B(H), are discussed in Theorem 6.2.10 of [ABG].