FRIEDRICHS EXTENSION AND MIN-MAX PRINCIPLE FOR

OPERATORS WITH A GAP

LUKAS SCHIMMER, JAN PHILIP SOLOVEJ, AND SABIHA TOKUS

Abstract. Semibounded symmetric operators have a distinguished self-adjoint ex-

tension, the Friedrichs extension. The eigenvalues of the Friedrichs extension are
given by a variational principle that involves only the domain of the symmetric oper-
ator. Although Dirac operators describing relativistic particles are not semibounded,
the Dirac operator with Coulomb potential is known to have a distinguished exten-
arXiv:1806.05206v1 [math-ph] 13 Jun 2018

sion. In this paper we relate this extension to a generalisation of the Friedrichs

extension to the setting of operators satisfying a gap condition. In addition we
prove, in the general setting, that the eigenvalues of this extension are also given by
a variational principle that involves only the domain of the symmetric operator.

1. Introduction and Main Result

For a symmetric, semibounded operator A with dense domain D(A) on a Hilbert
space H there exists a distinguished self-adjoint extension, the Friedrichs extension
AF . This extension was introduced by Friedrichs [12] in 1934. Its eigenvalues can be
computed by a variational principle.
More precisely, if A is bounded from below by λ1 , where
hz, AziH
λ1 = inf > −∞ , (1)
z∈D(A) kzk
H

a variational principle (see e.g. [6, Theorem 4.5.2]) states that the values
hz, AziH
λk = inf sup (2)
V ⊂D(A) z∈V kzk2H
dim V =k

for k ≥ 1 are the discrete spectrum of AF in the interval (−∞, supk≥1 λk ), counted
with multiplicities
dk := # {j ≥ 1 : λj = λk }
as long as dk < ∞. If dk = ∞ then λk is in the essential spectrum of AF . While similar
variational principles hold for all semibounded self-adjoint extensions of A, we stress
2010 Mathematics Subject Classification. 49R05, 49S05, 47B25, 81Q10.
Key words and phrases. Self-adjoint extension; Spectral gap; Variational principle; Schur comple-
ment; Dirac operator.
The authors were supported by ERC Advanced Grant no. 321029 and VILLUM FONDEN through
the QMATH Centre of Excellence (grant no. 10059).

1
2 LUKAS SCHIMMER, JAN PHILIP SOLOVEJ, AND SABIHA TOKUS

that in (2) only the domain D(A) is needed, making the spectrum of the Friedrichs
extension especially accessible to numerical methods. This is a consequence of D(A)
being a form core for AF .
For symmetric operators A that are not semibounded, Friedrichs’ construction is
not applicable. Of particular interest is the case where the self-adjoint extension of A
is expected to have a gap in its spectrum. In a similar way to the semibounded case,
one would like to solve the following problems.
(P1) Define a distinguished self-adjoint extension AF of A.
(P2) Provide a simple variational principle that allows to compute the eigenvalues of
AF , ideally only from the symmetric operator A.
In this paper, we will generalise the construction of the Friedrichs extension AF
to symmetric operators A where the lower semiboundedness (1) is replaced by a gap
condition. We will furthermore relate the extension to a variational principle that
only involves the domain of the symmetric operator A hence providing solutions to
both problems, (P1) and (P2). An important example of an operator that our results
apply to is the Dirac operator Hν on L2 (R3 ; C√
4
) with Coulomb potential −ν/|x|. The
operator Hν is not semibounded and for ν ≥ 3/2 it is not essentially self-adjoint on
the space of smooth, compactly supported functions C0∞ (R3 ; C4 ).
The problem (P1) has been studied already by Krein [16] for a symmetric operator
A that is not semibounded but satisfies a gap condition of the form (λ0 < λ1 )
!
λ0 + λ1 λ1 − λ0

A− z ≥ kzkH . (3)
2 2
H

In Krein’s work it is proved that such an operator has a self-adjoint extension that pre-
serves the gap, i.e. the interval (λ0 , λ1 ) belongs to the resolvent set of the extension.
Subsequently Brasche and Neidhart [3] parametrised all gap-preserving self-adjoint
extensions of A by using a suitable representation for their inverses. The authors’
parametrisation allowed them to identify one of the extensions as the Friedrichs ex-
tension in the limit λ0 → −∞.
The type of operators we wish to consider here satisfy a gap condition which is seen
to imply (3), as will be proved in Remark 2. In analogy to the Friedrichs extension
preserving the lower-semiboundedness, our extension AF preserves (3).
More recently, different forms of gap conditions have been considered. Esteban and
Loss [11] considered a block-matrix operator
!
P Q
(4)
T −S

densely defined on a domain D0 × D0 ⊂ H0 × H0 where P = P ∗ , S = S ∗ , Q = T ∗ and

S ≥ −λ0 > 0. Furthermore they assumed that P, Q, S, T, S −1T and QS −1 T map D0
into H0 . Their gap condition was phrased in terms of the assumption that for some
 FRIEDRICHS EXTENSION AND MIN-MAX PRINCIPLE IN A GAP 3

λ1 > 0 and all z ∈ D0

qλ1 (z, z) := h(S + λ1 )−1 T z, T ziH + h(P − λ1 )z, ziH ≥ 0 .
In the case of Dirac operators Hν with Coulomb potentials this assumption constitutes
a Hardy inequality that was previously proved analytically by Dolbeault, Esteban, Loss
and Vega [7]. In this way Loss and Esteban [10] were able to define a distinguished self-
adjoint extension for Hν up to and including the critical value ν = 1. For ν < 1 their
extension coincides with the previously known distinguished extension established
separately by Schmincke [23], Nenciu [20] and Wüst [27] (which were all proved to
be equal by Klaus and Wüst [14]).
Regarding the second problem (P2), variational principles have been studied by
several authors for self-adjoint operators with gaps. For Dirac operators with negative
potentials Talman [24] as well as Datta and Deviah [5] suggested a way to compute
the first eigenvalue. The idea was to split the optimisation in the variational principle.
Decomposing the Hilbert space into a direct sum
L2 (R3 ; C4 ) = (L2 (R3 ; C2 ) × {0}) ⊕ ({0} × L2 (R3 ; C2 ))
corresponding to the upper and lower spinors, the first eigenvalue would be given by
first maximising the quadratic form over one component and then minimising over the
other. More precisely, for suitably chosen spaces
F+ ⊂ L2 (R3 ; C2 ) × {0} , F− ⊂ {0} × L2 (R3 ; C2 )
the authors suggested that
hx+ + y− , A(x+ + y− )iH
λ1 = inf sup .
x+ ∈F+ \{0} y− ∈F− kx+ + y− k2H
For Dirac operators Hν with Coulomb potentials such a variational principle describing
the discrete spectrum was proved√by Dolbeault, Esteban and Séré [8] in the case of
essentially self-adjointness ν ∈ [0, 3/2) where they could √ choose F+ = C0∞ (R3 ; C2 ) ×
{0} and F− = {0} × C0∞ (R3 ; C2 ). Their argument for ν ∈ ( 3/2, 1) was not complete.
For ν < 1 Morozov and Müller [18, 19] showed that F+ = H 1/2 (R3 ; C2 ) × {0} and
F− = {0} × H 1/2 (R3 ; C2 ) are valid choices to obtain a variational principle for the
distinguished extension.
In the general setting of a self-adjoint operator with spectral gap, variational prin-
ciples that use an orthogonal decomposition of the Hilbert space were investigated
by Griesemer and Siedentop [13]. Abstract variational principles were also proved in
[8, 18] and with different assumptions by Kraus, Langer and Tretter [15] (see also
[26]). In all these results however, the operator is a-priori assumed to be self-adjoint
or essentially self-adjoint.
Only recently, Dolbeault, Esteban, Lewin and Séré [9] extended the variational
principle for Dirac operators with Coulomb potentials to all ν ∈ [0, 1] and discussed
its connections to the distinguished self-adjoint extension. Building upon the results of
[8] they showed that for any ν ∈ [0, 1] it is sufficient to choose F+ = C0∞ (R3 ; C2 ) × {0}
4 LUKAS SCHIMMER, JAN PHILIP SOLOVEJ, AND SABIHA TOKUS

and F− = {0} × C0∞ (R3 ; C2 ) to obtain the eigenvalues of the distinguished extension,
evoking similarities to the Friedrichs extension.
Our main result, Theorem 1 clarifies the connection between a distinguished self-
adjoint extension and a variational principle in the case of operators satisfying a general
gap condition. It applies, in particular, to the Dirac–Coulomb operator generalizing
the result of [9].
Theorem 1. Let A be a densely defined symmetric operator on a Hilbert space H and
let hx, AyiH be the corresponding real quadratic form with form domain equal to the
operator domain D(A). Furthermore the following assumptions are made.
(i) Orthogonal decomposition: There are orthogonal projections Λ± on H such
that
H = Λ+ H ⊕ Λ− H = H+ ⊕ H−
and
F± := Λ± D(A) ⊂ D(A) .
(ii) Gap condition:
hy− , Ay− iH hx+ + y− , A(x+ + y− )iH
sup 2 =: λ0 < λ1 := inf sup .
y− ∈F− \{0} ky− kH x+ ∈F+ \{0} y− ∈F− kx+ + y− k2H
(iii) The operator Λ− A|F− : F− → H− is essentially self-adjoint.
Then there exists a self-adjoint extension AF of A such that for k ≥ 1 the numbers
hz, AziH
λk := inf sup (5)
V ⊂F+ z∈(V ⊕F− )\{0} kzk2H
dim V =k

are the eigenvalues of AF in the set (λ0 , supℓ≥1 λℓ ) counted with multiplicities
dk := # {j ≥ 1 : λj = λk }
as long as dk < ∞. If dk = ∞ then λk is in the essential spectrum of AF . The operator
AF is the unique self-adjoint extension with the property that D(AF ) ⊂ F+ ⊕ H− , for
a subspace F+ ⊂ H+ defined in the proof.
Remark 2. Assumptions (i) and (ii) of Theorem 1 imply that A satisfies the gap
condition (3). To see this, we let x = x+ + x− ∈ D(A) and for given ε > 0 choose
ε
y− ∈ D(A) such that
2
ε ε ε
hx+ + y− , A(x+ + y− )iH ≥ (λ1 − ε) x+ + y− . (6)
H
Then with λ := (λ0 + λ1 )/2
|ℜh(A − λ)x, ziH |
k(A − λ) xkH ≥ sup
z∈D(A) kzkH
|hx + z, (A − λ)(x + z)iH − hx − z, (A − λ)(x − z)iH |
= sup .
z∈D(A) 4kzkH
 FRIEDRICHS EXTENSION AND MIN-MAX PRINCIPLE IN A GAP 5

ε
Choosing z := x+ − x− + 2y− ∈ D(A) and using (6) together with the definition of λ0
we obtain the lower bound
 
 ε ε ε ε 
hx+ + y− , (A − λ)(x+ + y− )iH − hx− − y− , (A − λ)(x− − y− )iH 
k(A − λ) xkH ≥
kzkH
!
λ1 − λ0 kx + zk2H + kx − zk2H
≥ −ε .
2 4kzkH
Using the parallelogram law and the fact that a + 1/a ≥ 2 for any a > 0 we obtain
! ! !
λ1 − λ0 kxkH kxkH kzkH λ1 − λ0
k(A − λ) xkH ≥ −ε + ≥ − ε kxkH .
2 2 kzkH kxkH 2
Since ε > 0 was arbitrary, the gap condition (3) holds.
By an application of the spectral theorem the same holds true for the extension AF .

We construct AF as an analogue to the Friedrichs extension of a semibounded

operator (see e.g. [21, Theorem VIII.15] and [22, Theorem X.23] as well as [2, pp.
224]). We closely follow [8], the main idea being the following. If A is a bounded self-
adjoint operator such that F± = H± , then for any E ∈ / σ(Λ− A|H− ) the decomposition
! ! ! !
Λ+ A|H+ Λ+ A|H− I −L∗E QE 0 I 0
− EI = (7)
Λ− A|H+ Λ− A|H− 0 I 0 −(B + E) −LE I
holds (see e.g. [26, Proposition 1.6.2]), where
B = −Λ− A|H− ,
LE = (B + E)−1 Λ− A|H+ ,
QE = (Λ+ A − E)|H+ + Λ+ A|H− (B + E)−1 Λ− A|H+ .
The operator QE is one of two Schur complements of A.
In Section 2, we will construct AF by defining these three operators. The definition
of B in Subsection 2.1 is straightforward and yields an operator with form domain
denoted by F− ⊂ H− . Complications arise from the fact that the Schur complement is
only defined in terms of a quadratic form qE which is not necessarily closable on H+ .
Thus a new Hilbert space G+ , which is obtained when considering the closure LE
of the operator (B + E)−1 Λ− A|F+ , has to be introduced in Subsection 2.2. That
(B + E)−1 Λ− A|F+ is closable is non-trivial and does not seem to hold true without
assumption (iii). For this reason we believe (iii) is necessary to guarantee that G+
can be identified with a subspace of H+ . On G+ , we can close qE and define the
corresponding operator QE , as done in Subsection 2.3. Particular consideration has
to be given to the fact that the construction does not depend on the explicit choice of
E > λ0 . In Subsection 2.4 the definition of the self-adjoint extension AF is given in
a form that resembles the above decomposition (7). In Subsection 2.6 the variational
principle stated in Theorem 1 will be proved.
6 LUKAS SCHIMMER, JAN PHILIP SOLOVEJ, AND SABIHA TOKUS

Table 1 summarises the Hilbert spaces that need to be defined while Table 2 lists
all the additional spaces.
In Section 3 we will apply Theorem 1 to the Dirac–Coulomb operator.
Remark 3. Our construction of the distinguished self-adjoint extension differs from
[11]. Phrasing our assumptions in terms of the block-matrix notation (4), we do not
require P and S to be self-adjoint nor that Q = T ∗ . In addition, we do not make any
assumption about the domain of QS −1 T . With the setup as in [11] the quadratic form
qE is closable on H+ and it is claimed (but not proved) in [11] that the domain of the
closure is independent of E. In our construction the introduction of G+ is necessary
to guarantee both that qE is closable on G+ and that the domain of the closure and
hence the self-adjoint extension do not depend on the choice of E. Nevertheless our
construction is inspired by the approach in [10] and [11].

Hilbert space (Equivalent) norms Contained in Description Page

H k·kH p.4
H+ k·kH H+ ⊂ H Λ+ H p.4
H− k·kH H− ⊂ H Λ− H p.4
F− k·kF− F− ⊂ H− Form domain of B p.6
G+ k·kE , E > λ0 G+ ⊂ H+ Domain of LE p.8
F+ k·kF+ ,E , E > λ0 F+ ⊂ G+ Form domain of QE p.11
Table 1. The required Hilbert spaces

Space Contained in Description Page

D(AF ) D(AF ) ⊂ F+ ⊕ H− Domain of AF p.14
D(A) D(A) ⊂ D(AF ) Domain of A p.4
F+ F+ ⊂ F+ Λ+ D(A) p.4
F− F− ⊂ F− Λ− D(A) p.4
Table 2. The additionally required vector spaces

2. The Proof of Theorem 1

2.1. The Definition of B. We start by setting
hy− , z− iF− := (λ0 + 1)hy− , z− iH − hy− , Az− iH
which by definition of λ0 is an inner product on F− with corresponding norm
ky− k2F− = (λ0 + 1)ky− k2H − hy− , Ay− iH .
Since the quadratic form h·, ·iF− comes from a symmetric operator it is closable, i.e. it
extends to a closed quadratic form on the form domain F− ⊂ H− , which is the closure
 FRIEDRICHS EXTENSION AND MIN-MAX PRINCIPLE IN A GAP 7

of F− with respect to the norm k·kF− . If we denote the continuous extension of the
quadratic form h·, ·iF− to F− by h·, ·iF− , then (F− , h·, ·iF− ) forms a Hilbert space.
By assumption Λ− A|F− is essentially self-adjoint, hence there exists a unique self-
adjoint extension given by its closure, which we will denote by −B. It is then clear
that B + λ0 + 1 coincides with the self-adjoint operator associated with the closed
quadratic form h·, ·iF− such that

hy− , z− iF− = hy− , Bz− iH + (λ0 + 1)hy− , z− iH .

The form domain of B is F− and its operator domain D(B) is a subset of F− . For
E > λ0 the self-adjoint operator B + E is strictly positive and its inverse (B + E)−1
is well-defined and bounded on all of H− .

Remark 4. Since Λ− A|F− is essentially self-adjoint, the operator B coincides with the
Friedrichs extension of the semi-bounded operator −Λ− A|F− . For the convenience of
the reader and to evoke connections to our construction, we recall the definition of
this extension. Using Riesz’ theorem we first define the operator Pb as the isometric
isomorphism between the Hilbert space F− and its dual F−′ , i.e. for any z− ∈ F− we
define Pb z− ∈ F−′ to be the unique continuous functional such that

[Pb z− ](y− ) = hz− , y− iF− .

With the embedding j− : H− → F−′ given by [j− (y− )](z− ) = hy− , z− iF− (identifying
′
H− with its dual space H− ) we can show that on the domain
n o
D(P ) = z− ∈ F− ⊂ H− : Pb z− ∈ j− (H− ) ⊂ H−

the operator P = j−−1 ◦ Pb is a self-adjoint extension of −Λ− A|F− + λ0 + 1. The

Friedrichs extension B is then defined as B = P − λ0 − 1 with domain D(B) =
D(P ). In particular, the quadratic form hy− , Bz− iH has a continuous extension to all
b
x− , y− ∈ F− given by [B(y b b
− )](z− ) where B = P − (λ0 + 1)j− . The form domain of B
is consequently F− .

2.2. The Definition of LE . Let E > λ0 . Then for x+ ∈ F+ the mapping x+ 7→

(B + E)−1 Λ− Ax+ defines a linear operator from F+ into H− . The proof of the second
part of the following lemma is adapted from [8, Lemma 2.1].

Lemma 5. The operator (B + E)−1 Λ− A defined on F+ is closable. We denote its

closure by LE with graph norm
kx+ k2E = kx+ + LE x+ k2H = kx+ k2H + kLE x+ k2H .
For λ0 < E ≤ E ′ the norms k·kE and k·kE ′ are equivalent on F+ with
kx+ kH ≤ kx+ kE ′ ≤ kx+ kE ≤ CE,E ′ kx+ kE ′ , (8)
where CE,E ′ = (E ′ − λ0 )/(E − λ0 ) ≥ 1.
8 LUKAS SCHIMMER, JAN PHILIP SOLOVEJ, AND SABIHA TOKUS

Proof. We first show closability. Consider a sequence of xn ∈ F+ with kxn kH → 0

and y ∈ H− with k(B + E)−1 Λ− Axn − ykH → 0. We have to show that y = 0. Let
z ∈ (B + E)F− ⊂ H− . Then
|hz, (B + E)−1 Λ− Axn iH | = |h(B + E)−1 z, Λ− Axn iH | = |hA(B + E)−1 z, xn iH |


≤ A(B + E)−1 z kxn kH → 0 .
H

Since Λ− A|F− is essentially self-adjoint, we can conclude that (B + E)F− is dense in

H− and thus y = 0.
Next, assume λ0 < E ≤ E ′ . Then the first two inequalities in (8) follow directly
from the definition of the norms. For a bound on k·kE in terms of k·kE ′ we note that
by the spectral theorem for x ∈ F−
2 |λ + E ′ |2 (E ′ − λ0 )2
2
(B + E)−1 (B + E ′ )x ≤ sup 2
kxk H ≤ 2
kxk2H .
H λ≥−λ0 |λ + E| (E − λ0 )
As a consequence we obtain with CE,E ′ := (E ′ − λ0 )/(E − λ0 ) for any x+ ∈ F+


kLE x+ kH = (B + E)−1 Λ− Ax+ ≤ CE,E ′ (B + E ′ )−1 Λ− Ax+ = CE,E ′ kLE ′ x+ kH ,
H H

which proves (8). 

We conclude that the domain of LE , meaning the closure of F+ with respect to the
norm k·kE , can be identified for all values of E > λ0 and we will denote this vector
space by G+ . Together with the inner product
hx+ , z+ iE := hx+ , z+ iH + hLE x+ , LE z+ iH−
it forms a Hilbert space (G+ , h·, ·iE ) and we have the vector space inclusions
F+ ⊂ G+ ⊂ H+ ,
where the last equation also holds in the sense of Hilbert spaces.
Viewed as an operator from (G+ , k·kE ) to (H− , k·kH ), LE is then bounded. We will
later consider the LE as an operator on an even smaller Hilbert space, where it is
consequently also bounded.

2.3. The Definition of QE . For E > λ0 we now define the quadratic form qE on
F+ × F+
qE (x+ , z+ ) := hx+ , (A − E)z+ iH + hΛ− Ax+ , (B + E)−1 Λ− Az+ iH .
It is the quadratic form related to one of the Schur complements of the matrix rep-
resentation of A. We will see that qE can be closed as a lower-semibounded form on
the Hilbert space G+ such that the closure is independent of E. To this end we first
derive the following result which can also be found in [8, pp. 210].
Lemma 6. For E > λ0 and x+ ∈ F+ let ϕE,x+ : F− → R be the function defined as
ϕE,x+ (y− ) := hx+ + y− , A(x+ + y− )iH − Ekx+ + y− k2H .
 FRIEDRICHS EXTENSION AND MIN-MAX PRINCIPLE IN A GAP 9

The quadratic form qE is then related to ϕE,x+ by

qE (x+ , x+ ) = sup ϕE,x+ (y− ) .
y− ∈F−

In particular, ϕE,x+ (·) can be extended to F− and the extension attains its maximum
at the unique point ymax = LE x+ = (B + E)−1 Λ− Ax+ .
Proof. For y− ∈ F− we write
ϕE,x+ (y− ) = hx+ , (A − E)x+ iH + 2ℜhy− , Ax+ iH − hy− , (B + E)y− iH . (9)
It is then clear that the functional ϕE,x+ (·) naturally extends to F− , see also Remark 4.
We denote the continuous extension by ϕE,x+ .
The quadratic polynomial f : R → R which we can define for any y− , z− ∈ F− as
f (h) = ϕE,x+ (y− + h(z− − y− )) , h ∈ R
is strictly concave and thus we have
f (1) < f (0) + f ′ (0) . (10)
Now assume that y− ∈ F− satisfies the Euler equation, that is
ϕ′E,x+ (y− ; (z− − y− )) = 0
for all z− ∈ F− . Then we must have hw− , Λ− Ax+ − (B + E)y− iH = 0 for all w− ∈ F−
or equivalently
y− = (B + E)−1 Λ− Ax+ (11)
and by (10) for all z− ∈ F− , z− 6= y−
ϕE,x+ (z− ) < ϕE,x+ (y− ),
i.e. ϕE,x+ (·) has a unique global maximum at the point ymax = (B + E)−1 Λ− Ax+ ∈
D(B). Inserting (11) into (9) we obtain
ϕE,x+ (ymax ) = hx+ , (A − E)x+ iH + hΛ− Ax+ , LE x+ iH .


The following lemma establishes important properties of the quadratic form qE .
The proof can also be found in [8, Lemma 2.1].
Lemma 7. Let λ0 < E ≤ E ′ .
(i) On F+ the quadratic forms qE and qE ′ satisfy
qE ′ (x+ , x+ ) + (E ′ − E)kx+ k2E ′ ≤ qE (x+ , x+ ) ≤ qE ′ (x+ , x+ ) + (E ′ − E)kx+ k2E .
(ii) The quadratic form qE is bounded from below on F+ ⊂ G+ by a constant κE ≥ 1
such that
qE (x+ , x+ ) + κE hx+ , x+ iE ≥ hx+ , x+ iE .
10 LUKAS SCHIMMER, JAN PHILIP SOLOVEJ, AND SABIHA TOKUS

(iii) It holds that

E < λ1 if and only if qE (x+ , x+ ) > 0 for all x+ ∈ F+ \ {0} ,
E ≤ λ1 if and only if qE (x+ , x+ ) ≥ 0 for all x+ ∈ F+ \ {0} .

Proof. For (i) we use the resolvent identity to compute for any λ, λ′ > λ0 ,
h i
qλ′ (x+ , x+ ) = qλ (x+ , x+ )+(λ − λ′ ) kx+ k2H +hΛ− Ax+ , (B + λ)−1 (B + λ′ )−1 Λ− Ax+ iH .
The result then follows by setting λ = E, λ′ = E ′ and λ = E ′ , λ′ = E, respectively,
and using (B + E ′ )−1 ≤ (B + E)−1 to bound the last term.
We continue to show (iii) and subsequently (ii). First, let λ0 < E < λ1 and
ε
x+ ∈ F+ \ {0} arbitrary. By the definition of λ1 , for any ε > 0 there exists a y− ∈ F−
such that
ε ε
hx+ + y− , A(x+ + y− )iH
ε 2 ≥ λ1 − ε
kx+ + y− kH
and consequently
2
ε
qE (x+ , x+ ) ≥ ϕE,x+ (y− ε
) = hx+ + y− ε
, A(x+ + y− ε
)iH − E x+ + y−
H

ε 2
≥ (λ1 − ε − E) x+ + y− .
H

We can conclude that for all x+ ∈ F+ \ {0} and all λ0 < E < λ1
qE (x+ , x+ ) ≥ (λ1 − E)kx+ k2H > 0 .
Setting E ′ := λ1 and using (i) we have that
qλ1 (x+ , x+ ) ≥ qE (x+ , x+ ) − (λ1 − E)kx+ k2E ,
which in the case E → λ1 shows qλ1 ≥ 0 since kx+ kE → kx+ kλ1 by (8).
If E > λ1 then again by definition of λ1 , for any ε > 0 with λ1 < E − ε there exists
ε
x+ ∈ F+ \ {0} with
h(xε+ + y− ), A(xε+ + y− )iH
≤ (E − ε)
kxε+ + y− k2H
for all y− ∈ F− and consequently
2 2

qE (xε+ , xε+ ) = sup ϕE,xε+ (y− ) ≤ − inf ε xε+ + y− ≤ −ε xε+
y− ∈F− y− ∈F− H H

which finishes the proof of (iii).

The statement in (ii) is clear for E ≤ λ1 . If E > λ1 we use (8) to compute that
qE (x+ , x+ ) ≥ qλ1 (x+ , x+ ) − (E − λ1 )kx+ k2λ1 ≥ qλ1 (x+ , x+ ) − (E − λ1 )Cλ1 ,E kx+ k2E .
Choosing κE = 1 + max(0, (E − λ1 )Cλ1 ,E ) then gives the result.

 FRIEDRICHS EXTENSION AND MIN-MAX PRINCIPLE IN A GAP 11

Remark 8. In the first part of the proof we needed bounds on terms of the type
kLE x+ kH . This was done by using the new norm k·kE . Without specifying further
assumptions on the operator A it is not possible to estimate the difference between
quadratic forms qE for different values of E by a k·kH -norm only. Introducing the
Hilbert space G+ thus turns out to be essential.
An immediate consequence of Lemma 7 together with Lemma 5 is that the comple-
tion F+ of F+ with respect to the norm k·kF+ ,E induced by the inner product
hx+ , z+ iF+ ,E = qE (x+ , z+ ) + κE hx+ , z+ iE
is independent of E. In the remainder we fix E > λ0 and denote the extension of
the inner product h·, ·iF+ ,E to F+ by h·, ·iF+ ,E . A priori, it is not clear that F+ is a
subspace of H+ . However, the following holds.
Lemma 9. The semibounded quadratic form qE is closable on the Hilbert space G+
for E > λ0 . The closure qE has the form domain F+ , independent of E, and can be
identified with a subspace of G+ and subsequently also of H+ .
Proof. We show that the positive form h·, ·iE = qE (·, ·) + κE h·, ·iE is closable. Consider
a sequence xn ∈ F+ which is a Cauchy sequence with respect to k·kF+ ,E and which
satisfies kxn kE → 0. Then for any z ∈ F+
|hz, xn iF+ ,E | ≤ κE |hz, xn iE | + |hz, (A − E)xn iH | + |hΛ− Az, LE xn iH |
= κE |hz, xn iE | + |h(A − E)z, xn iH | + |hΛ− Az, LE xn iH |
≤ κE (kzkE + k(A − E)zkH + kΛ− AzkH ) kxn kE
and thus hz, xn iF+ ,E → 0, where we again crucially need the assumption that xn → 0
in the k·kE -norm, which is stronger than the k·kH -norm. Since F+ is dense in F+ with
respect to k·kF+ ,E , we can conclude that kxn kF+ ,E → 0. 
We thus have the Hilbert space inclusions
F+ ⊂ G+ ⊂ H+ ,
with their respective inner products implicit, and the corresponding inclusions of the
associated dual spaces
′
H+ ⊂ G+′ ⊂ F+′ .
By Riesz’ theorem there exists an isometric isomorphism iX→X ′ (x) = hx, ·iX between
each Hilbert space X and its dual space X ′ . In general we will not explicitly write the
isomorphisms iH± →H′± thus identifying H and its dual space H′ .
Furthermore for each of the Hilbert space inclusions X ⊂ Y there is a corresponding
embedding of dual spaces jY ′ →X ′ : Y ′ → X ′ , in the sense
[jY ′ →X ′ ℓ](x) = ℓ(x) = hi−1
Y →Y ′ ℓ, xiY , ℓ ∈ Y ′, x ∈ X .
All these embeddings are bounded in norm by one.
12 LUKAS SCHIMMER, JAN PHILIP SOLOVEJ, AND SABIHA TOKUS

Associated to the closed quadratic form qE there is an operator defined on all of the
form domain F+ , as well as a self-adjoint operator with domain a subset of F+ .
d : F ⊂ G → F ′ with the
Lemma 10. Let E > λ0 . There exists an operator QE + + +
following properties.
(i) For all x+ , z+ ∈ F+ the closure qE of qE on F+ is given by
d x ](z )
qE (x+ , z+ ) = [QE + +

(ii) The operator Q d −1 is

d is bounded and if additionally E < λ then its inverse Q
E 1 E
also bounded.
(iii) On the dense domain
n o
dz ∈ j ′
D(QE ) = z+ ∈ F+ : Q ′
′ (G ) ⊂ G+
E + G+ →F+ +

the operator
QE := i−1 −1 d
G+ →G ′ ◦ jG ′ →F ′ ◦ QE : D(QE ) → F+
+ + +

is self-adjoint and QE + κE ≥ 1. If additionally E < λ1 then QE is also positive.

Proof. We define Sb : F+ → F+′ using Riesz’ theorem as the unique operator such that
b ](y ) = hz , y i
[Sz+ + + + F+ ,E .

d =S
The operator Q b−κ j ′ ′ iG →G ′ then has the claimed properties. 
E E G+ →F+ + +

2.4. The Definition of AF . We consider once more the operator LE , viewed now
as a mapping from (F+ , k·kF+ ,E ) into (H− , k·kH ). This operator is bounded and we
denote its adjoint by L′E : (H− , k·kH ) → (F+′ , k·kF ′ ,E ), which is related to the Hilbert
+

adjoint L∗E by L∗E = i−1 ′

F+ →F ′ LE iH− →H− .
′
+
d : D(R
This allows us to define the operator R d ) ⊂ F × H → F ′ × H for
E E + − + −
E > λ0 as
! ! ! ! !
x+ I −L′E d
Q 0 I 0 x+
d
R = E
E
y− 0 I 0 −(B + E) −LE I y−
!
d x + L′ (B + E)(y − L x )
QE + E − E +
=
−(B + E)(y− − LE x+ )
on the domain
( ! )
d) x+
D(R E = ∈ F+ × H− : y− − LE x+ ∈ D(B) ⊂ H+ × H− .
y−
d should be compared to the decomposition (7). By the resolvent
The construction of RE
identity for any x+ ∈ F+
LE x+ − LE ′ x+ = (E ′ − E)(B + E)−1 LE ′ x+
 FRIEDRICHS EXTENSION AND MIN-MAX PRINCIPLE IN A GAP 13

and by Lemma 5 this identity extends to F+ . Thus D(Rd ) is independent of E > λ

E 0
and the same holds for the corresponding subset F of H
F := {x+ + y− ∈ F+ ⊕ H− : y− − LE x+ ∈ D(B)} ⊂ H+ ⊕ H− .
d is invertible and in this case R
If E < λ1 the operator Q d has an inverse defined
E E
by
! ! −1
 ! !
d −1 x+ d
I 0 QE 0 
I L′E ℓ+
RE =
y− LE I 0 −(B + E)−1 0 I k−
d −1 !
QE (ℓ+ + L′E k− )
= d −1
LE QE (ℓ+ + L′E k− ) − (B + E)−1 k−
for all (ℓ+ , k− ) ∈ F+′ × H− . It is straightforward to see that this operator maps into
the domain of R d and vice versa.
E
We now define D(R) ⊂ F ⊂ F+ ⊕ H− to be the set
n o
d x + L′ (B + E)(y − L x ) ∈ j (H )
D(R) = x+ + y− ∈ F : QE + E − E + + +

which will be proved to be independent of E. On this domain we define for E > λ0

the family of operators RE : D(R) → H acting as
d x + L′ (B + E)(y − L x )) − (B + E)(y − L x ) .
RE (x+ + y− ) = j+−1 (QE + E − E + − E +

Here we use the notation j+ for the embedding jH+ →F+′ . In the following we prove
that RE is an extension of A − E, that its domain is indeed independent of E and
that it is self-adjoint.
To see that RE is an extension of A − E, we note that for x+ ∈ F+ , y− ∈ F− we
have y− − LE x+ = y− − (B + E)−1 Λ− Ax+ ∈ D(B). Furthermore, for any u+ ∈ F+ we
compute that
d x + L′ (B + E)(y − L x )](u )
[QE + E − E + +

= hx+ , (A − E)u+ iH +hΛ−Ax+ , LE u+ iH +h(B + E)(y− −(B + E)−1 Λ− Ax+ ), LE u+ iH

= hx+ , (A − E)u+ iH +h(B + E)y− , LE u+ iH
= h(A − E)x+ , u+ iH +hAy−, u+ iH .
The linear functional h(A − E)x+ , ·iH +hAy− , ·iH is bounded on F+ and extends contin-
uously to F+ . Hence Qd x +L′ (B +E)(y −L x ) ∈ j (H ) and F ⊕F ⊂ D(A ).
E + E − E + + + + − F
Since in addition for any v− ∈ F−
−h(B + E)(y− − LE x+ ), v− iH = −h(B + E)y− , v− iH + hΛ− Ax+ , v− iH
= h(A − E)y− , v− iH + hAx+ , v− iH
we obtain that for all x+ , u+ ∈ F+ , y− , v− ∈ F−
hRE (x+ + y− ), u+ + v− iH = h(A − E)(x+ + y− ), u+ + v− iH
which allows us to conclude that RE is an extension of A − E.
14 LUKAS SCHIMMER, JAN PHILIP SOLOVEJ, AND SABIHA TOKUS

To show that D(R) is independent of E, we first note that by the above for any
x+ , u+ ∈ F+ and y− ∈ F−
qE (x+ , u+ )+hy− −LE x+ , (B +E)LE u+ iH −qE ′ (x+ , u+ )−hy− −LE ′ x+ , (B +E ′)LE ′ u+ iH
= (E ′ − E)hx+ , u+ iH .
(12)

Let now x+ + y− ∈ D(R) ⊂ F+ ⊕ H− , such that for some E > λ0

y− − LE x+ ∈ D(B) , d x + L′ (B + E)(y − L x )] ∈ j (H ) .
[QE + E − E + + +

We have already seen that then also y− − LE ′ x+ ∈ D(B) for any E ′ > λ0 . We can
(n) (n)
approximate x+ + y− by elements of x+ + y− ∈ F+ ⊕ F− such that

(n) (n)
x+ − x+ → 0, y− − y− → 0 .
F+ ,E H

By continuity (12) extends to x+ + y− and we obtain that for all u+ ∈ F+

d x + L′ (B + E)(y − L x )](u ) − [Q
[Q d′ x + L′ ′ (B + E ′ )(y − L ′ x )](u )
E + E − E + + E + E − E + +

= (E ′ − E)hx+ , u+ iH

and thus also

y− − LE ′ x+ ∈ D(B) , d′ x + L′ ′ (B + E ′ )(y − L ′ x )] ∈ j (H ) .
[QE + E − E + + +

To prove that RE is symmetric, we compute that for given u+ + v− , x+ + y− ∈ D(R)

hRE (x+ + y− ), u+ + v− iH
d x + L′ (B + E)(y − L x )) − (B + E)(y − L x ), u + v i
= hj+−1 (QE + E − E + − E + + − H
d x + L′ (B + E)(y − L x ), u i − h(B + E)(y − L x ), v i
= hj+−1 (QE + E − E + + H − E + − H
d x ](u ) + h(B + E)(y − L x ), L u i − h(B + E)(y − L x ), v i
= [QE + + − E + E + H − E + − H

= qE (x+ , u+ ) − h(B + E)(y− − LE x+ ), (v− − LE u+ )iH .

This last expression is symmetric in interchanging u+ + v− and x+ + y− and hence RE

is a symmetric operator.
−1
For E < λ1 , the operator RE : H = H+ ⊕ H− → H defined as
−1 −1
−1
RE d
(x+ + y− ) = Q d
(j+ (x+ ) + L′E y− ) + LE Q (j+ (x+ ) + L′E y− ) − (B + E)−1 y−
E E

is the inverse of RE . It is itself symmetric and since defined on all of H, self-adjoint.

By the Hellinger–Toeplitz theorem it is also a bounded operator, hence closed. But
then RE itself as a bijective, symmetric and closed operator is also self-adjoint. The
self-adjointness then extends to RE for any E > λ0 .
Lastly, we define the extension AF of A as AF := RE + E on D(AF ) := D(R).
 FRIEDRICHS EXTENSION AND MIN-MAX PRINCIPLE IN A GAP 15

2.5. The Uniqueness of AF . Let Ae be another self-adjoint extension of A with

D(A)e ⊂ F ⊕H . We first show that then necessarily D(A)
e ⊂ F . For x +y ∈ D(A)e
+ − + −
and v− ∈ F− we compute
h(Ae − E)(x+ + y− ), v− iH = hx+ + y− , (A − E)v− iH = hx+ + y− , (AF − E)v− iH
= −hy− − LE x+ , (B + E)v− iH
and we can conclude that v− 7→ hy− − LE x+ , (B + E)v− iH is a continuous functional
for all v− ∈ F− . This implies y− − LE x+ ∈ D(Λ− A|∗F− ) = D(B) and thus x+ + y− ∈ F .
Taking u+ ∈ F+ we further compute
h(Ae − E)(x+ + y− ), u+ iH = hx+ + y− , (A − E)u+ iH = hx+ + y− , (AF − E)u+ iH
d u − L′ (B + E)L u )i + hy , (B + E)L u i
= hx+ , j+−1 (QE + E E + H − E + H

d u ](x ) − h(B + E)L u , L x i + h(B + E)L u , y i

= [QE + + E + E + H E + − H
d x ](u ) + h(B + E)(y − L x ), L u i
= [QE + + − E + E + H
d x + L′ (B + E)(y − L x )](u ) .
= [QE + E − E + +

From this we can conclude that x+ + y− ∈ D(AF ) = D(R) and thus D(A) e ⊂ D(A ).
F
∗ e∗ e
Conversely, by self-adjointness, D(AF ) = D(AF ) ⊂ D(A ) = D(A), which proves the
desired Ae = AF .
2.6. The Proof of the Variational Principle. It remains to prove that the varia-
tional principle holds. The min-max levels of QE on (G+ , h·, ·iE ) are given by
qE (x+ , x+ )
µk (QE ) = inf sup
V ⊂F+ x+ ∈V \{0} kx+ k2E
dim V =k
qE (x+ , x+ )
= inf sup
V ⊂F+ x+ ∈V \{0} kx+ k2E
dim V =k

where we used that F+ is a form core of qE . The numbers µk (QE ) satisfy µk (QE ) ≤
inf σess (QE ) and if µk (QE ) < inf σess (QE ) then µk is an eigenvalue of QE with multi-
plicity
mk (QE ) = # {j ≥ 1 : µj (QE ) = µk (QE )} .
We need the following result, which can be found in [8, Lemma 2.2].
Lemma 11. Under the assumptions of Theorem 1, it holds that:
(i) For any x+ ∈ F+ \ {0} the real number
hz, AziH
E(x+ ) := sup
z∈(span(x+ )⊕F− )\{0} kzk2H
is the unique solution in (λ0 , +∞) of
qE (x+ , x+ ) = 0 ,
16 LUKAS SCHIMMER, JAN PHILIP SOLOVEJ, AND SABIHA TOKUS

which may also be written as

Ekx+ k2H = hx+ , Ax+ iH + hΛ− Ax+ , LE x+ iH .

(ii) The variational principle (5) is equivalent to

λk = inf sup E(x+ ) .

V ⊂F+ x+ ∈V \{0}
dim V =k

(iii) For any k ≥ 1 the real number λk given by (5) is the unique solution of

µk (Qλ ) = 0 .

Proof. First note that qE (x+ , x+ ) for fixed x+ ∈ F+ \{0} is a strictly decreasing, contin-
uous function of E with qλ1 (x+ , x+ ) ≥ 0 by Lemma 7 and with limE→∞ qE (x+ , x+ ) =
−∞. We can conclude that qE (x+ , x+ ) = 0 has precisely one solution in [λ1 , +∞).
e
Denote this solution by E(x + ).
e
If E < E(x+ ) then necessarily qE (x+ , x+ ) > 0 and thus there exists a y− ∈ F− such
that

hx+ + y− , A(x+ + y− )iH − Ekx+ + y− k2H > 0 .

We obtain that
hz, AziH hx+ + y− , A(x+ + y− )iH
E(x+ ) = sup 2 ≥ >E.
z∈(span(x+ )⊕F− )\{0} kzkH kx+ + y− k2H
e
If E > E(x+ ) then necessarily qE (x+ , x+ ) ≤ −ε < 0 for some ε and thus for all
y− ∈ F−

hx+ + y− , A(x+ + y− )iH − Ekx+ + y− k2H ≤ −ε .

Consequently,
hz, AziH
E(x+ ) = sup ≤ −ε + E < E .
z∈(span(x+ )⊕F− )\{0} kzk2H
e
This proves that E(x + ) = E(x+ ).
The statement (ii) is an immediate consequence of the definitions of E(x+ ) and λk
as well as the observation that for any k-dimensional subspace V ⊂ F+
hz, AziH hz, AziH
sup 2 = sup
z∈(V ⊕F− )\{0} kzkH z∈V ⊕F− kzk2H
Λ+ z6=0

since λ0 < λ1 .
Note that µk (Qλ ) is a continuous function of λ with µk (Qλ1 ) ≥ 0 that satisfies
limλ→+∞ µk (Qλ ) = −∞. We can conclude that µk (Qλ ) = 0 has at least one solution
e .
in [λ1 , +∞). Denote this solution by λ k
 FRIEDRICHS EXTENSION AND MIN-MAX PRINCIPLE IN A GAP 17

e . For all V ⊂ F with dim V = k there exists an xV ∈ V \ {0} such

Assume λ < λ k + +
that
e − λ 2
λ k V
qeλk (xV+ , xV+ ) ≥ − x+
e
2 λk

and thus by Lemma 7

2 e − λ 2
λ

e − λ) xV ≥ k V
qλ (xV+ , xV+ ) ≥ qeλk (xV+ , xV+ ) + (λ k + e x+ > 0 .
e
λk 2 λk
V
This implies the existence of y− ∈ F− such that
2
V
ϕλ,xV+ (y− ) = hxV+ + y−
V
, A(xV+ + y−
V
)iH − λ xV+ + y−
V
≥ 0.
H
We obtain that
hz, AziH hxV+ + y−
V
, A(xV+ + y−
V
)iH
sup 2 ≥ 2 ≥λ
z∈(V ⊕F− )\{0} kzkH kxV+ + y− V
kH
e . There exists a vector space V such that for all
and thus λ ≤ λk . Assume λ > λ k 0
x+ ∈ V0
λ−λ e λ−λe
k k
qeλk (x+ , x+ ) ≤ kx+ ke2λk ≤ kx+ k2λ
2Ceλk ,λ 2
and thus by Lemma 7
λ−λe
e )kx k2 ≤ − k
qλ (x+ , x+ ) ≤ qeλk (x+ , x+ ) − (λ − λ k + λ kx+ k2λ < 0
2
for all x+ ∈ V0 \ {0}. This implies that
hx+ + y− , A(x+ + y− )iH − λkx+ + y− k2H ≤ 0
for all x+ ∈ V0 \ {0} and all y− ∈ F− . We can conclude that
hz, AziH
λk ≤ sup
z∈(V ⊕F− )\{0} kzk2H
 
hx+ + y− , A(x+ + y− )iH hy− , Ay− iH
≤ max sup sup 2 , sup
x+ ∈V0 \{0} y− ∈F− kx+ + y− kH y− ∈F− \{0} ky− k2H
≤ max(λ, λ0 ) = λ
e .
and together with the above λk = λ k

To prove that the real numbers λk are in the spectrum of AF , we use an argument
presented in [8, Section 2] and construct a sequence of subspaces Xn of dimension dk
such that
|hx, (AF − λk )yiH |
lim sup sup q = 0.
n→∞ x∈X y∈D(A )\{0} 2 2
n
kxk =1
F kykH + kA F ykH
H
18 LUKAS SCHIMMER, JAN PHILIP SOLOVEJ, AND SABIHA TOKUS

First note that

dk := # {j ≥ 1 : λj = λk } = # {j ≥ 1 : µj (Qλk ) = µk (Qλk ) = 0} = mk (Qλk )
and by the min-max principle for Qλk , there exists a sequence of spaces Xn+ ⊂ D(Qλk )
of dimension dk such that
lim
n→∞
sup kQλk x+ kλk = 0 ,
+
x+ ∈Xn
kx+ kλ =1
k

which also implies that

d x ](y )|
|[Q
d λk + +
lim sup Qλk x = n→∞
lim sup sup = 0. (13)
n→∞
x+ ∈Xn+
′ ,λ
F+ k
x+ ∈Xn+ y+ ∈F+ ky+ kF+ ,λk
kx+ kλ =1 kx+ kλ =1
k k

Let Xn := (1 + Lλk )Xn+ ⊂ F . We observe that for all x+ ∈ F+ and y ∈ D(AF )

d (x )](Λ y) = hx + L x , (A − λ )yi .
[Q (14)
λk + + + λk + F k H

Furthermore for all y ∈ D(AF )

d (Λ y)](Λ y) = hΛ y + L Λ y, (A − λ )yi
[Qλk + + + λk + F k H
≤ (kykH + kΛ− y − Lλk Λ+ ykH )(1 + |λk |)(kykH + kAF ykH )
and using
1 + |λk |

kΛ− y − Lλk Λ+ ykH = (B + λk )−1 Λ− (AF − λk )y ≤ (kykH + kAF ykH )
H λk − λ0
we can see that for all y ∈ D(AF ) there exists a constant Cλk > 0 such that
d (Λ y)](Λ y) ≤ C (kyk2 + kA yk2 ) .
[Qλk + + λk H F H

This allows us to bound

kΛ+ yk2F+ ,λk = κλk kΛ+ y+ k2H + κλk kLλk Λ+ yk2H + [Q
d (Λ y)](Λ y)
λk + +

≤ Cλ′ k (kyk2H + kAF yk2H )

with some constant Cλ′ k > 0 for all y ∈ D(AF ). Together with (13), (14) and the fact
that kx+ + Lλk x+ kH = kx+ kλk we can conclude that
|hx, (AF − λk )yiH |
lim sup sup q = 0. (15)
n→∞ x∈X y∈D(A )\{0}
n
kxkH =1
F kyk2H + kAF yk2H

As 1 + Lλk : Xn+ → Xn is a surjective isometry we obtain that dim Xn = dk .

Consider the case dk < ∞. Let P be the spectral measure of AF . Suppose now
for some ε > 0 we had that dim ran P ((λk − ε, λk + ε)) ≤ dk − 1. Then there exists
a sequence of xn ∈ Xn with kxn kH = 1 and P ((λk − ε, λk + ε))xn = 0. We write
xn = wn + zn with wn ∈ ran P ((−∞, λk − ε]) and zn ∈ ran P ([λk + ε, ∞)). Unless λk
is in the essential spectrum of AF , we also observe that for some ν ∈ (λk − ε, λk + ε)
 FRIEDRICHS EXTENSION AND MIN-MAX PRINCIPLE IN A GAP 19

necessarily ν ∈ ρ(AF ). Choosing yn = (AF − ν)−1 xn ∈ D(AF ) we compute that, if

λk − ε < ν ≤ λk ,
Z Z
λ − λk
λk −ε ∞ λ−λ
k
hxn , (A − λk )yn iH = dPwn ,wn (λ) + dPzn ,zn (λ)
−∞ λ−ν λk +ε λ − ν
ε
≥ kwn k2H + kzn k2H
λk + ε − ν
 
ε
≥ min 1, kxn k2H
λk + ε − ν
and similarly, if λk ≤ ν < λk + ε,
 
ε
hxn , (A − λk )yn iH ≥ min , 1 kxn k2H .
ν − λk + ε
Since kxn kH = 1 and
2 2

kyn k2H + kAF yn k2H = (AF − ν)−1 xn + xn + ν(AF − ν)−1 xn ≤ Ckxn k2H
H H
′
we obtain that for some constant C > 0
q
|hxn , (AF − λk )yn iH | ≥ C ′
kyn k2H + kAF yn k2H ,
which contradicts (15). Thus necessarily dim ran P ((λk −ε, λk +ε)) ≥ dk for any ε > 0.
In the case dk = ∞, we can use the above argument to conclude that dim ran P (λk −
ε, λk + ε) = ∞ for all ε > 0. As a consequence λk ∈ σ(AF ) and λk is larger or equal
to the k-th eigenvalue µk (AF ) of AF in (λ0 , supℓ≥1 λℓ ).
Before we prove that the λk are all the points in σ(AF ) ∩ (λ0 , supℓ≥1 λℓ ), we first
note that (see Remark 4)
−hy− , By− iH b ](y )
−[By hy− , AF y− iH
− −
λ0 = sup 2 = sup 2 = sup
y− ∈F− \{0} ky− kH y− ∈F− \{0} ky− kH y− ∈F− ∩D(AF )\{0} ky− k2H
(16)
which is an immediate consequence of the continuity of Bb with respect to k·kF− .
Now assume that λ ∈ σ(AF ) ∩ (λ0 , supℓ≥1 λℓ ) with spectral multiplicity d. We have
to show that λ = λk for some k ∈ N, or equivalently that µk (Qλ ) = 0 for some k ∈ N.
By assumption there exist spaces Xn ⊂ D(AF ) with dim Xn = d such that
lim sup k(AF − λ)xkH = 0 .
n→∞ x∈X
n
kxkH =1

In particular we obtain that

k(B + λ)(Λ− x − Lλ Λ+ x)kH
lim sup =0
x→∞ x∈Xn kxkH
and since (B + λ)−1 is a bounded operator
kΛ− x − Lλ Λ+ xkH
lim sup = 0.
x→∞ x∈X
n kxkH
20 LUKAS SCHIMMER, JAN PHILIP SOLOVEJ, AND SABIHA TOKUS

We can conclude that there exists an N ∈ N such that

kxkH
kΛ− x − Lλ Λ+ xkH ≤
2
for all x ∈ Xn with n ≥ N. In the remainder we assume without loss of generality
that N = 1. Note that

0 = lim sup k(AF − λ)xkH = lim sup sup |h(AF − λ)x, yiH |
n→∞ x∈X n→∞ x∈X y∈H
n n
kxkH =1 kxkH =1 kykH =1

= lim sup dx ](y ) − h(B + λ)(x − L x ), (y − L y )i |

sup |[Qλ + + − λ + − λ + H
n→∞ x∈X y∈F
n
kxkH =1 kykH =1

and in particular

0 = n→∞
lim sup sup |h(AF − λ)x, yiH | = n→∞
lim sup d(Λ x)](y )| .
sup |[Qλ + +
x∈Xn y∈(1+Lλ )F+ x∈Xn y+ ∈F+
kxkH =1 kyk =1 kxkH =1 ky+ kλ =1
H

Now let Xn+ := Λ+ Xn ⊂ F+ . If x ∈ Xn is an element of F− , then by (16)

h(AF − λ)x, xiH ≤ (λ0 − λ)kxk2H

and thus

|h(AF − λ)x, xiH | ≥ (λ − λ0 )kxk2H

which is a contradiction to the definition of Xn . Thus dim Xn+ = d. Furthermore for

x ∈ Xn by an application of the lower triangle inequality
kxkH
kΛ+ xkλ = kΛ+ x+ + Lλ Λ+ xkH = kx − (Λ− x − Lλ Λ+ x)kH ≥ .
2
As a consequence

lim sup d(x )](y )| = 0

sup |[Qλ + +
n→∞ + y+ ∈F+
x+ ∈Xn
kx+ kλ =1 ky+ kλ =1

and thus also

dx
lim sup Q
n→∞
λ + ′ ,λ
= 0. (17)
+ F+
x+ ∈Xn
kx+ kλ =1

This implies that zero is in the spectrum of Qλ by a generalised version of Weyl’s

criterion, which can for example be found in [17]. To prove this taking into ac-
count the multiplicity d, we let ε > 0 and let P be the spectral measure of Qλ . If
dim ran P ((−ε, ε)) ≤ d − 1 then we can find a sequence of xn ∈ Xn+ with kxn kλ = 1
and P ((−ε, ε))xn = 0. Using the embedding j = jG+′ →F+′ ◦ iG+ →G+′ we can compute
 FRIEDRICHS EXTENSION AND MIN-MAX PRINCIPLE IN A GAP 21

that for any x ∈ F+

d
Qλ x ′ ,λ
= (Qλ λ
dx
d + κ j)−1 Q
λ
d + κ j)−1 j(x))
= (Qλ + κλ )1/2 (x − κλ (Qλ λ
F+ F+ ,λ λ

1/2 −1
= (Qλ + κλ ) (x − κλ (Qλ + κλ ) x)
λ


= Qλ (Qλ + κλ )−1/2 x .
λ
Together with the spectral theorem we obtain that
Z Z
d 2 t2 −ε ∞ t2 ε2
Qλ xn ′ = dPxn ,xn (t) + dPxn ,xn (t) ≥ kxk2λ
F+ ,λ −κλ +1 t + κλ ε t + κλ ε + κλ
which is a contradiction to (17). It remains to prove that 0 = µk (Qλ ), for some k ∈ N.
Since λ < supℓ≥1 λℓ there exists an ℓ ∈ N such that λ < λℓ . By definition µℓ (Qλℓ ) = 0
and thus for any subspace V ⊂ F+ of dimension ℓ there exists an xV+ ∈ V such that
qλℓ (x+ , x+ ) ≥ −εkx+ k2λ .
By Lemma 7 we obtain that
2 2

qλ (xV+ , xV+ ) ≥ qλℓ (xV+ , xV+ ) ≥ −ε xV+ ≥ −ε xV+ .
λℓ λℓ

This implies that µℓ (Qλ ) ≥ 0, and consequently 0 = µk (Qλ ) for some k < ℓ. We can
conclude that λ = λk , which completes the proof of Theorem 1.

3. Application to the Dirac–Coulomb Operator

Let H0 = −iα · ∇ + β be the free Dirac operator where α1 , α2 , α3 , β ∈ C4×4 with
αiαj + αj αi = 2δij IC4 , αi β + βαi = 0 , β 2 = I C4 .
We choose the representation
! !
0 σi I 2 0
i
α = , β= C .
σi 0 0 −IC2
The free Dirac operator is essentially self-adjoint on C0∞ (R3 ; C4 ). The Dirac–Coulomb
operator Hν = H0 − ν/|x| is symmetric on D(Hν ) = C0∞ (R3 ; C4 ) ⊂ L2 (R3 ; C4 ) =: H.
Let Λ± be the Talman projections,
! ! ! !
ϕ ϕ ϕ 0
Λ+ = , Λ− = .
ψ 0 ψ ψ
Then clearly Λ± D(Hν ) ⊂ D(Hν ) and thus the first assumption of Theorem 1 is satis-
fied. We further compute that
R ν
R3 (−1 −|x|
)|ψ(x)|2 dx
λ0 = sup = sup (−1 − ν/|x|) = −1 .
ψ∈C0∞ (R3 ;C2 )\{0} kψk2H x∈R3

Dolbeault, Esteban, Loss and Vega [7] proved the Hardy inequality
Z Z !
|σ · ∇ψ(x)|2 1
1 dx + 1− |ψ(x)|2 dx ≥ 0 (18)
R3 1 + |x| R3 |x|
22 LUKAS SCHIMMER, JAN PHILIP SOLOVEJ, AND SABIHA TOKUS

for all ψ ∈ H 1 (R3 ; C2 ) by analytic methods. Following similar computations in [10, 9]

we can use (18) to prove that q0 (ψ, ψ) ≥ 0 for all ψ ∈ C0∞ (R3 ; C2 ) and all ν ∈ [0, 1].
Here qE is the Schur complement
Z ! Z
ν |σ · ∇ψ(x)|2
qE (ψ, ψ) = 1− − E |ψ(x)|2 dx + ν dx .
R3 |x| R3 1 + |x| +E
As a consequence of Lemma 7 (iii) we obtain λ1 ≥ 0 > λ0 . Note that this statement
can also be proved by means of an abstract continuation principle [8, Section 3] and
can then in turn be used to establish the Hardy inequality (18) [8, Section 4]. Since
in addition −1 − ν/|x| is essentially self-adjoint on C0∞ (R3 ; C2 ), all the conditions of
Theorem 1 are satisfied and thus for any ν ∈ [0, 1] there exists a self-adjoint extension
of Hν with eigenvalues given by
hψ, Hν ψiH
λk = inf 3 sup .
∞
V ⊂C0 (R ;C2 ) ψ∈(V ×C ∞ (R3 ;C2 ))\{0}
0
kψk2H
dim V =k

The self-adjoint extension coincides with extension constructed in [10] and thus for
ν < 1 also with the extensions of Schmincke [23], Wüst [27, 28] and Nenciu [20] (which
were all proved to be equal by Klaus and Wüst [14]). The variational principle for
this distinguished extension is the same as the one obtained in [9].
To establish a second variational principle, we can choose Λ± to be spectral projec-
tions of the free Dirac operator,
Λ+ = PH0 [0, ∞) , Λ− = PH0 (−∞, 0) .
Let Hν again denote the Dirac operator with Coulomb potential acting on the domain
D(Hν ) = F+ ⊕ F− ⊂ L2 (R3 ; C4 ) =: H with F± = Λ± C0∞ (R3 ; C4 ). The operator Hν is
symmetric and the first assumption of Theorem 1 is satisfied. Again we can compute
λ0 to be
√
hψ, (− 1 − ∆ − ν/|x|)ψiH
λ0 = sup ≤ sup (−1 − ν/|x|) = −1 .
ψ∈F− \{0} kψk2H x∈R3

Using an abstract continuation principle, it was proved in [8] that λ1 ≥ 0 > λ0 for
ν ∈ [0, 1). To extend this result to the endpoint ν = 1 we note that by the above for
any ν ∈ [0, 1) the Schur complement qE
qE (ψ, ψ)
* √  + *  √  −1 +
ν ψ ν ψ
= ψ, 1−∆− −E ψ + Λ− , Λ− 1 − ∆ + + E Λ− Λ−
|x| H
|x| |x| |x| H
1/2 3
satisfies q0 (ψ, ψ) ≥ 0 for all ψ ∈ Λ+ H (R ). Taking the limit ν → 1 one obtains (see
[9, Lemma 15]) the analogue of (18)
* √  + *  √  −1 +
1 ψ 1 ψ
ψ, 1−∆− ψ + Λ− , Λ− 1 − ∆ + Λ− Λ− ≥ 0.
|x| H
|x| |x| |x| H
 FRIEDRICHS EXTENSION AND MIN-MAX PRINCIPLE IN A GAP 23

In contrast to the case of the Talman projections, we are not aware of an analytic
proof of this inequality. By Lemma 7 (iii) this inequality proves that λ1 ≥ 0 > λ0
still √holds in the endpoint case ν = 1. As discussed in the appendix, the operator
Λ− ( 1 − ∆ + ν/|x|)|F− is essentially self-adjoint on Λ− C0∞ (R3 ; C4 ) ⊂ Λ− L2 (R3 ; C4 ).
Thus all the conditions of Theorem 1 are satisfied and for any ν ∈ [0, 1] we obtain a
a self-adjoint extension of Hν with eigenvalues given by
hψ, Hν ψiH
λk = inf sup .
V ⊂Λ+ C0 ∞ (R3 ;C4 ) ψ∈(V ⊕Λ− C0∞ (R3 ;C4 ))\{0} kψkH
dim V =k

This is the same result as in [9].

Appendix A. Essential Self-Adjointness of the Brown–Ravenhall

Operator
Let H0 be self-adjoint free Dirac operator with domain H 1 (R3 ; C4 ) ⊂ L2 (R3 ; C4 )
and denote by Λ± the projections onto the positive/negative spectral subspace of H0 .
For γ ∈ R the Brown–Ravenhall operator [4] is defined as
√
Bγ = Λ+ (H0 − γ/|x|)Λ+ = Λ+ ( 1 − ∆ − γ/|x|)Λ+ .
on the Hilbert space Λ+ L2 (R3 ; C4 ). For a comprehensive review we refer to the text-
book of Balinsky and Evans [1]. While the physically relevant case is γ > 0, we are
interested in the case where γ = −ν ∈ [−1, 0]. For γ < 3/4 the operator Bγ was proved
to be self-adjoint on Λ+ H 1 (R3 ; C4 ) by Tix [25]. Since Λ+ H 1 (R3 ; C4 ) ⊂ H 1 (R3 ; C4 ) we
obtain from Hardy’s inequality

γ 1

Λ+ Λ +ψ ≤ 2γ Λ+ ψ ≤ 2γk∇Λ+ ψkL2 (R3 ;C4 )
|x| 2|x|
L2 (R3 ;C4 ) L2 (R3 ;C4 )

for any ψ ∈ H 1 (R3 ; C4 ). To prove that B−ν is essentially self-adjoint on Λ+ C0∞ (R3 ; C4 ),
it thus suffices to prove the statement for B0 . This is an immediate consequence of
the fact that the free Dirac operator H0 is essentially
√ self-adjoint on C0∞ (R3 ; C4 ).
We can also conclude that the operator Λ− ( 1 − ∆ + ν/|x|)Λ− is essentially self-
adjoint on Λ− C0∞ (R3 ; C4 ) since it is unitarily equivalent to the Brown–Ravenhall op-
erator B−ν via the transform U : L2 (R3 ; C4 ) → L2 (R3 ; C4 )
" !# !
ψ1 ψ2 (−x)
U (x) = .
ψ2 ψ1 (−x)

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Lukas Schimmer, QMATH, Department of Mathematical Sciences, University of

Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 5, DK-2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark
E-mail address: schimmer@math.ku.dk

Jan Philip Solovej, QMATH, Department of Mathematical Sciences, University of

Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 5, DK-2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark
E-mail address: solovej@math.ku.dk

Sabiha Tokus, QMATH, Department of Mathematical Sciences, University of Copen-

hagen, Universitetsparken 5, DK-2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark
E-mail address: sabiha.tokus@math.ku.dk