Find the spectrum of a linear bounded operator $T:L^1([0,1]) \longrightarrow L^1([0,1])$

functional-analysislp-spacesoperator-theoryspectral-theory

Consider the operator $T:L^1([0,1]) \longrightarrow L^1([0,1])$ given by $$Tu(x) = x^2u(x).$$
$T$ is linear and bounded.
I'm asked the point spectrum of this operator and the eigenspaces corresponding to the eigenvalues of $T$.

The point spectrum of $T$ is
$$\sigma_p(T) = \{\lambda: \text{ker} (\lambda I-T)\neq \{0\}\}. $$
Let $\lambda \in \sigma_p(T) $. Then $$\lambda u(x) – x^2u(x)=u(x)(\lambda-x^2)=0 ~~\forall x \in [0,1]~~~(*) $$
for some $u \neq 0$ in $L^1$, which is impossible because it seems to me that $(*) $ is true only when $u$ is zero in $L^1$.
Then the point spectrum should be empty and there are no eigenvalues. So where am I wrong?

Best Answer

You're correct. First note that every spectral value lies inside $[0,1].$ If $(\lambda-x^2)u=0,$ then $u=0$ on $\{\sqrt{\lambda}\}^c$ and so $u=0$ a.e.

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