Find the Spectrum of an Integral Operator

functional-analysisintegral-operatorsoperator-theoryspectral-theory

I need to find the spectrum of an operator $T: C([0,1]) \to C([0,1])$ defined by $(Tf)(t) = \int_0^t f(x) dx$. I know that the spectrum is the set of all values $\lambda$ such that $\lambda I – T$ is not invertible, but I'm not sure how to go about finding those values when integrals are involved. I've found several other posts about finding the spectrum of an integral operator here, but they all seem to involve functions of two variables, and that's throwing me off.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Best Answer

The resolvent $(T-\lambda I)^{-1}$ is obtained by solving for $g$ in the following: $$ g = (T-\lambda I)^{-1}f \\ (T-\lambda I)g= f \\ \int_0^x g(t)dt-\lambda g(x)=f(x) \\ \int_0^xg(t)dt-\lambda\frac{d}{dx}\int_0^x g(t)dt=f(x) \\ \frac{d}{dx}\int_0^xg(t)dt-\frac{1}{\lambda}\int_0^x g(t)dt=-\frac{1}{\lambda}f(x) \\ \frac{d}{dx}\left(e^{-x/\lambda}\int_0^xg(t)dt\right)=-\frac{1}{\lambda}e^{-x/\lambda}f(x) \\ e^{-x/\lambda}\int_0^x g(t)dt = -\frac{1}{\lambda}\int_0^x e^{-u/\lambda} f(u)du \\ \int_0^xg(t)dt=-\frac{1}{\lambda}\int_0^x e^{(x-u)/\lambda}f(u)du \\ g(x)=-\frac{1}{\lambda}f(x)-\frac{1}{\lambda^2}\int_0^x e^{(x-u)/\lambda}f(u)du $$ So, $$ (T-\lambda I)^{-1}f = -\frac{1}{\lambda}f(x)-\frac{1}{\lambda^2}\int_0^x e^{(x-u)/\lambda}f(u)du $$ and the spectrum is $\sigma(T)=\{0\}$.