Scattering Theory for Open Quantum Systems

Quantum systems which interact with their environment are often modeled by maximal dissipative operators or so-called Pseudo-Hamiltonians. In this paper the scattering theory for such open systems is considered. First it is assumed that a single maximal dissipative operator $A_D$ in a Hilbert space \sH is used to describe an open quantum system. In this case the minimal self-adjoint dilation $\widetilde K$ of $A_D$ can be regarded as the Hamiltonian of a closed system which contains the open system \{A_D,\sH\}, but since $\widetilde K$ is necessarily not semibounded from below, this model is difficult to interpret from a physical point of view. In the second part of the paper an open quantum system is modeled with a family $\{A(\mu)\}$ of maximal dissipative operators depending on energy $\mu$, and it is shown that the open system can be embedded into a closed system where the Hamiltonian is semibounded. Surprisingly it turns out that the corresponding scattering matrix can be completely recovered from scattering matrices of single Pseudo-Hamiltonians as in the first part of the paper. The general results are applied to a class of Sturm-Liouville operators arising in dissipative and quantum transmitting Schr\"{o}dinger-Poisson systems

On the unitary equivalence of absolutely continuous parts of self-adjoint extensions

The classical Weyl-von Neumann theorem states that for any self-adjoint operator $A$ in a separable Hilbert space $\mathfrak H$ there exists a (non-unique) Hilbert-Schmidt operator $C = C^*$ such that the perturbed operator $A+C$ has purely point spectrum. We are interesting whether this result remains valid for non-additive perturbations by considering self-adjoint extensions of a given densely defined symmetric operator $A$ in $\mathfrak H$ and fixing an extension $A_0 = A_0^*$. We show that for a wide class of symmetric operators the absolutely continuous parts of extensions $\widetilde A = {\widetilde A}^*$ and $A_0$ are unitarily equivalent provided that their resolvent difference is a compact operator. Namely, we show that this is true whenever the Weyl function $M(\cdot)$ of a pair $\{A,A_0\}$ admits bounded limits M(t) := \wlim_{y\to+0}M(t+iy) for a.e. $t \in \mathbb{R}$. This result is applied to direct sums of symmetric operators and Sturm-Liouville operators with operator potentials

Scattering matrices and Weyl functions

For a scattering system $\{A_\Theta,A_0\}$ consisting of selfadjoint extensions $A_\Theta$ and $A_0$ of a symmetric operator $A$ with finite deficiency indices, the scattering matrix \{S_\gT(\gl)\} and a spectral shift function $\xi_\Theta$ are calculated in terms of the Weyl function associated with the boundary triplet for $A^*$ and a simple proof of the Krein-Birman formula is given. The results are applied to singular Sturm-Liouville operators with scalar and matrix potentials, to Dirac operators and to Schr\"odinger operators with point interactions.Comment: 39 page

Trace formulae for dissipative and coupled scattering systems

For scattering systems consisting of a (family of) maximal dissipative extension(s) and a selfadjoint extension of a symmetric operator with finite deficiency indices, the spectral shift function is expressed in terms of an abstract Titchmarsh-Weyl function and a variant of the Birman-Krein formula is proved.Comment: 38 page

Perturbation determinants for singular perturbations

For proper extensions of a densely defined closed symmetric operator with trace class resolvent difference the perturbation determinant is studied in the framework of boundary triplet approach to extension theory

Trace formulas for singular perturbations

Trace formulas for pairs of self-adjoint, maximal dissipative and other types of resolvent comparable operators are obtained. In particular, the existence of a complex-valued spectral shift function for a resolvent comparable pair H', H of maximal dissipative operators is proved. We also investigate the existence of a real-valued spectral shift function. Moreover, we treat in detail the case of additive trace class perturbations. Assuming that H and H'=H+V are maximal dissipative and V is of trace class, we prove the existence of a summable complex-valued spectral shift function. We also obtain trace formulas for a pair {A, A*} assuming only that A and A* are resolvent comparable. In this case the determinant of a characteristic function of A is involved in the trace formula. In the case of singular perturbations we apply the technique of boundary triplets. It allows to express the spectral shift function of a pair of extensions in terms of abstract Weyl function and boundary operator. We improve and generalize certain classical results of M.G. Krein for pairs of self-adjoint and dissipative operators, the results of A. Rybkin for such pairs, as well as the results of V. Adamyan, B. Pavlov, and M. Krein for pairs {A, A*} with a maximal dissipative operator A

Scattering matrices and Weyl functions

For a scattering system consisting of two selfadjoint extensions of a symmetric operator A with finite deficiency indices, the scattering matrix and the spectral shift function are calculated in terms of the Weyl function associated with the boundary triplet for A* and a simple proof of the Krein-Birman formula is given. The results are applied to singular Sturm-Liouville operators with scalar- and matrix-valued potentials, to Dirac operators and to Schroedinger operators with point interactions