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The Lax-Milgram theorem states that a bounded bilinear form $a$ on a real Hilbert space $V$, satisfying $a(v,v)\ge \alpha \Vert v{\Vert }_V^2$ for some $\alpha >0$, has for each $F\in V^{\ast }$ a unique $u\in V$ with $a(u,v)=F(v)$ for all $v$. Moreover $\Vert u{\Vert }_V\le \Vert F\Vert /\alpha$.

For a compact operator $K$ on a Hilbert space, the Fredholm alternative says that $I-\lambda K$ has closed range, finite-dimensional kernel and cokernel of equal dimension, andThus a zero kernel gives unique solvability for every right-hand side; a nonzero kernel gives solvability exactly under the adjoint orthogonality conditions, and then all solutions differ by a kernel vector.

Take $V=H_0^1(\Omega )$. Gårding's inequality supplies constants $a>0$, $b\ge 0$ with $B[v,v]\ge a\Vert v{\Vert }_{H^1}^2-b\Vert v{\Vert }_2^2$. Therefore for $\lambda \le -b$ the shifted form $B_{\lambda }[u,v]=B[u,v]-\lambda (u,v{)}_{L^2}$ is coercive. It is bounded for every fixed $\lambda$, and $v\mapsto (f,v)$ is bounded on $V$. Lax-Milgram gives unique weak solvability for $\lambda \le -\gamma$, with $\gamma =b$. The inequality itself follows, for example, by absorbing the drift cross-term $\Vert b{\Vert }_{\infty }\Vert \nabla v{\Vert }_2\Vert v{\Vert }_2$ using Young's inequality and allowing a lower $L^2$ correction for $c$.

For the compact inverse and adjoint of a coercive elliptic operator, under the additional zero-shift coercivity assumption, define $Gg\in V$ by $B[Gg,v]=(g,v)$ for all $v\in V$, and let $K$ be this solution viewed in $L^2$. The solution operator is linear and bounded into $V$, and the Rellich-Kondrachov compact embedding $V\hookrightarrow L^2$ makes $K$ compact. Rewriting the weak equation as $B[u,v]=(f+\lambda u,v)$ givesConversely an $L^2$ solution of this operator equation lies in $V$, because it equals $K(f+\lambda u)$, and satisfies the weak differential equation.

For constant drift coefficients and zero Dirichlet traces, integration by parts gives $\int b_i{D}_{i}vu=-\int b_{i}v{D}_{i}u$. Symmetry of the principal coefficients therefore makes $B^{\ast }[u,v]=B[v,u]$ the unshifted weak form of the displayed formal adjoint. The shifted adjoint equation requiresThe spectral shift in an adjoint weak formulation is essential: the printed sentence omitting it is false for nonzero $\lambda$. For instance take a smooth ball, $L=-\Delta +1$, any nonzero $u\in C_c^{\infty }(\Omega )$ and $f=-\Delta u+u$. The printed unshifted identity holds, but $(L^{\ast }-\lambda )u=f-\lambda u\ne f$ whenever $\lambda \ne 0$. This counterexample also meets zero-shift coercivity and constant-drift assumptions. The corrected identity above is used for the remainder of the argument.

Let $G_{\ast }g\in V$ solve $B^{\ast }[G_{\ast }g,v]=(g,v)$, which exists by Lax-Milgram because the diagonal coercivity is unchanged. For $p,q\in L^2$,Thus $G_{\ast }$, viewed as an $L^2$ operator, is exactly $K^{\ast }$. Applying this inverse to the corrected shifted adjoint equation givesand the converse follows from its range lying in $V$, just as before.

Finally let the original homogeneous equation have a nonzero solution. Its parameter is nonzero, since the unshifted problem is coercive. Fredholm gives solvability precisely when $(Kf,w)=0$ for every $w\in \ker (I-\lambda K^{\ast })$. Such a $w$ satisfies $K^{\ast }w=w/\lambda$, so $(Kf,w)=(f,w)/\lambda$. Hence the necessary and sufficient condition isWhen this holds, the solutions are an affine translate of the original finite-dimensional homogeneous solution space. The compatibility space is the adjoint kernel; a drift term does not generally permit replacing it by the original kernel.