Spectral Theory of Block Operator Matrices

Block operator matrices are matrices whose entries are operators in Hilbert or Banach spaces. Such operators appear in a natural way when systems of differential equations with different order and type are investigated or an operator in a given space is considered that has a natural decomposition intosubspaces. In many applications of mathematical physics it is natural and fruitful to use the theory of block operator matrices. It is the aim to study spectral properties of such block operator matrices: location of the essential spectrum, variational principles and estimates for eigenvalues, investigation of spectral subspaces, basis properties of components of eigenvectors and generalised Fourier transforms. Particular emphasis is placed on unbounded block operator matrices, for which different cases have to be considered separately; these cases depend on the places where the strongest operators are located. The results should be applied to concrete operators arising in applications, mainly ordinary or partial differential operators.