Section 5 9 October 2026
Ordered resolvents for an unbounded closed-form interaction
5 Ordered resolvents for an unbounded closed-form interaction
Let and be self-adjoint operators defined by closed semibounded forms on the same , with equivalent positive shifted form norms. Here is bounded and is bounded on . The adjoint maps to . Actual form closure is an assumption; a formal factorization alone does not supply it.
For , , set
All products are bounded between the indicated form spaces, and
In particular
The second formula is an equality of bounded auxiliary-space forms for any positive closed physical form with continuously. No commutation with or is required.
Choose . The spectral theorem gives the exact identity
Thus extends boundedly . The same argument with a positive shift of and equivalence of form norms gives this extension for . Their form inverse identities therefore give both ordered resolvent identities
Sandwiching by yields . It follows by multiplication in the displayed order that both products of and equal . This proves invertibility and the formula for . The first resolvent identity now gives , proving (5.1).
For a self-adjoint resolvent, . The identity extends to dual inputs by continuity: both sides define bounded sesquilinear forms on , and Hilbert inputs are dense there. Sandwiching with proves the second equality in (5.2). Substitution of proves its first equality. The same substitution into the quadratic form of gives (5.3). Continuity of that form on justifies each product even when is unbounded on .
□The resolvent inverse in this theorem exists off the real axis because the closed self-adjoint parents exist. A Neumann criterion is sufficient for a quantitative bound, not necessary for the identity:
If with bounded , an earned implies
when its full form-dual sandwich is used. Likewise (5.3) transfers an earned physical-energy resolvent bound. Absorptive response alone does not replace that physical-energy bound. For a form-dual coupling this is first a resolvent sandwich: one uses the bounded near factors of Theorem 4.3, or the ordered temporal estimate below, rather than treating as a bounded Hilbert-space coupling without proof.
Equality in (5.4) is over the actual spectrum. Replacing it by a whole half-line above a spectral floor gives an upper bound, not in general an equality. Spectral gaps matter for that distinction, whereas the shift that makes positive does not create such gaps. At a real eigenvalue no inverse has been asserted. As decreases, genuine poles and thresholds may make both the baseline response and the quantitative inverse ceiling large.