nLab discrete spectrum

Context

Functional analysis

AQFT

algebraic quantum field theory (perturbative, on curved spacetimes, homotopical)

Introduction

Concepts

field theory:

Lagrangian field theory

quantization

quantum mechanical system, quantum probability

free field quantization

gauge theories

interacting field quantization

renormalization

Theorems

States and observables

Operator algebra

Local QFT

Perturbative QFT

Contents

Idea

In the spectral theory of operator algebras, the discrete spectrum is that part of the spectrum of a linear operator which looks like the set of eigenvalues of a matrix, hence of a linear operator acting on a finite-dimensional vector space/finite-dimensional Hilbert space.

Definition

The discrete spectrum of a closed linear operator on a Hilbert space consists of those points in its operator spectrum which are

  1. isolated points: they have an open neighbourhood containing no other points of the spectrum,

  2. of finite algebraic multiplicity.

The second clause simplifies for self-adjoint operators, where it is equivalent to corresponding eigenspace being finite-dimensional (cf. Moretti 2017 Rem. 9.15), hence to the condition that the geometric multiplicity is finite.

Properties

The discrete spectrum is a subset of the point spectrum, but does in general not coincide with the point spectrum.

References

See most of the references listed at operator spectrum and spectral theory, for instance

See also

Last revised on November 13, 2025 at 10:55:42. See the history of this page for a list of all contributions to it.