On the convergence of the normalized power sequence of spectral operators on Hilbert space

Abstract

Let $\mathscr{H}$ be a complex Hilbert space, and let $\mathscr{B}(\mathscr{H})$ denote the set of all bounded operators on $\mathscr{H}$ . For an operator $T \in \mathscr{B}(\mathscr{H})$, let $|T| := (T^*T)^{\frac{1}{2}}$. For $A$ in $\mathscr{B}(\mathscr{H})$, we refer to the sequence, $\{ |A^n|^{\frac{1}{n}} \}_{n \in \mathbb{N} }$, as the $\textit{normalized power sequence}$ of $A$. As our main result, we prove that the normalized power sequence of a spectral operator in $\mathscr{B}(\mathscr{H})$ converges in norm, and provide an explicit description of the limit in terms of its idempotent-valued spectral resolution. Our approach substantially generalizes the corresponding result by the first-named author in the case of matrices in $M_m(\mathbb{C})$, and supplements the Haagerup-Schultz theorem on SOT-convergence of the normalized power sequence of an operator in a $II_1$ factor.