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On a closed manifold with a Riemannian metric, a smooth solution of ${\partial }_{t}u+\Delta u=0$ for the positive Laplace-Beltrami operator satisfies the displayed identity by integration by parts. Zero initial data force the solution to vanish, proving uniqueness and the semigroup property for heat evolution.

For $d\ge 3$, $A_d=\Gamma (d/2-1)/(2{\pi }^{d/2})$. Substitute $u=|x{|}^2/(2s)$ to obtain the displayed identity for $x\ne 0$. The semigroup property and Tonelli theorem then give $P_t(|\cdot {|}^{2-d})(x)=A_d^{-1}{\int }_t^{\infty }{p}_s(x)ds$. The coefficient multiplying the time integral is the reciprocal of the coefficient in the full Green integral, a distinction important in Brownian motion hitting asymptotics.

A sufficient set of assumptions is that $L$ is a densely defined closed operator on the Hilbert space $H$, generating an analytic semigroup $S(t)$, and that $f\in C^{0,\theta }([0,T],H)$ for some $0<\theta \le 1$. For an operator criterion, one may assume that $A=\omega I-L$ is a sectorial operator of angle less than $\pi /2$, with dense domain. The analytic semigroup then satisfies, on a fixed finite time interval,The Hölder continuity assumption means $\Vert f(t)-f(s){\Vert }_H\le K|t-s{|}^{\theta }$. It supplies time regularity of the forcing, not spatial membership of $f(t)$ in $D(L)$.

With initial datum $u_0\in H$, a classical solution of an abstract Cauchy problem meanswith the evolution identity holding in $H$ at positive times and $u(t)\to u_0$ in $H$. Equivalently, the positive-time domain continuity is in the graph norm. If the definition requires differentiability also at zero, assume additionally $u_0\in D(L)$; the proof below then gives $u\in C^1([0,T],H)\cap C([0,T],D(L))$.

The variation-of-constants formula gives the candidateThe integral is a Bochner integral. Boundedness of $S$ and continuity of $f$ make the expression continuous into $H$, and its integral term tends to zero with $t$. Thus it is a mild solution of an abstract Cauchy problem with the correct initial value. The issue is showing that its integral term lies in the domain of the unbounded linear operator $L$.

Write $v(t)={\int }_0^{t}S(r)f(t-r)dr$. For $\epsilon >0$, the truncated integral $v_{\epsilon }(t)={\int }_{\epsilon }^{t}S(r)f(t-r)dr$ lies in $D(L)$. Subtract the current forcing before applying $L$:Here the last term follows by integrating $LS(r)f(t)=\frac{d}{dr}S(r)f(t)$ away from zero; it does not assume that $f(t)\in D(L)$. The first integrand satisfiesSince $v_{\epsilon }(t)\to v(t)$ in $H$ and the displayed images also converge, the closed operator property givesThis is the reason for the Hölder continuity assumption: the unsplit estimate would have the nonintegrable factor $r^{-1}$. Merely knowing that $f$ is continuous does not provide the integrable bound needed here. More generally, a modulus of continuity $\eta$ satisfying ${\int }_0^1\eta (r)dr/r<\infty$ suffices for this argument; a positive Hölder exponent is a convenient sufficient hypothesis.

The formula also proves continuity of $Lv$ at positive times. On compact positive-time intervals, split the integral at a small $r=\epsilon$: its short part is uniformly bounded by $C{\epsilon }^{\theta }$, while the remaining part is continuous by the strongly continuous semigroup property and ordinary dominated convergence. Together with analytic smoothing of $S(t)u_0$, this makes $Lu$ continuous at positive times. The semigroup property givesBecause $u(t)\in D(L)$, division of this identity by $h$ after subtracting $u(t)$ gives the continuous right derivative $Lu(t)+f(t)$. The left derivative agrees by the same identity and continuity of $Lu+f$. Thus $u^{\prime }=Lu+f$, proving existence of the classical solution of an abstract Cauchy problem on the entire given finite interval, and in particular local existence.

For uniqueness, the difference $h$ of two such classical solutions of an abstract Cauchy problem satisfies $h^{\prime }=Lh$ and $h(0)=0$. For $0<\epsilon <t$, differentiation of $S(t-s)h(s)$ on $[\epsilon ,t]$ gives zero, so $h(t)=S(t-\epsilon )h(\epsilon )$. Letting $\epsilon \downarrow 0$ yields $h(t)=0$. Finally, if $u_0\in D(L)$, then $LS(t)u_0=S(t)L{u}_0\to L{u}_0$, and the expression for $Lv(t)$ tends to zero. Hence $u^{\prime }(t)\to L{u}_0+f(0)$ and the stronger time-zero regularity follows. The solution is unique; the forcing regularity controls the singularity in the differentiated integral.

Let $M$ be a closed manifold with a Riemannian metric and use $\Delta =-\mathrm{div}\mathrm{grad}$, the positive Laplace-Beltrami operator. This is the setting in which the final discrete eigenfunction expansion applies without additional boundary or noncompact spectral hypotheses. A Riemannian heat kernel is a smooth $H(t,x,y)$ for $t>0$ such thatfor every smooth initial function $f$. Here $\nu$ solves the heat equation. The limit is the statement that the initial kernel is the Dirac delta distribution on the diagonal. In the closed setting this uniquely determines the heat kernel; it is symmetric, preserves constants, is nonnegative, and satisfies the semigroup property.

A heat parametrix $P(t,x,y)$ is an approximate version with the same delta initial limit and with errorregular enough at $t=0$ to correct by a convergent integral series. One may construct it by the local Gaussian ansatzwhere $\chi =1$ near the diagonal and is supported in a convex normal neighborhood, and the smooth coefficients solve the usual radial transport equations. The leading coefficient accounts for the Riemannian volume form. Taking $q$ sufficiently large makes the residual extend continuously, with any prescribed finite number of derivatives, to $t=0$. Alternatively a smooth asymptotic summation of all transport coefficients gives a residual vanishing to every order. These local construction, extension and differentiability facts are used here as subsidiary results, as permitted.

For the correction proof take a heat parametrix whose residual is smooth up to $t=0$ on a short interval $[0,T]$. We also use its uniform integral bound ${\sup }_{0<t\le T,x}{\int }_M|P(t,x,y)|d{V}_y<\infty$, its approximate-identity limit, and the following standard differentiability property: convolution with a smooth time-dependent kernel gives a smooth kernel for $t>0$, and differentiating it yields the identity below. These properties follow from the Gaussian estimates and the delta initial limit; no conclusion about the final exact heat kernel is assumed.

Define the Volterra convolution of kernels byIt is associative wherever these integrals converge. The delta term at the upper endpoint givesSeek $H=P+P\ast Q$. Then its error vanishes exactly when $Q+R+R\ast Q=0$. The solution is the Volterra parametrix correctionThe signs matter: the first correction is $-P\ast R$.

To prove convergence, let $|R|\le C$ and $V=\mathrm{vol}(M)$. The time variables in $R^{\ast k}$ range over a simplex of volume $t^{k-1}/(k-1)!$, soThe series for $Q$ therefore converges uniformly on $[0,T]\times M\times M$. Derivatives obey analogous bounds, with polynomial factors in $k$, by the quoted residual extension and differentiation properties. Thus the series can be convolved and differentiated as above. Associativity and absolute convergence give $Q+R+R\ast Q=0$, proving $({\partial }_t+{\Delta }_x)H=0$. The correction $P\ast Q$ has integral norm $O(t)$ by the integral bound on $P$ and boundedness of $Q$. It has zero initial limit, so $H$ has precisely the required delta initial data.

For uniqueness, a smooth solution $w$ with zero initial data satisfies the heat equation energy identityIts initial norm is zero, hence $w=0$. Applying uniqueness to consecutive evolutions proves the semigroup property. Choose $s_0<T$ and, for arbitrary $t>0$, compose enough kernels $H(t/r)$ that $t/r<s_0$. The resulting kernel is independent of the subdivision by uniqueness, is smooth for positive time by the quoted differentiability property, and extends the construction to every $t>0$. This proves a parametrix determines the global heat kernel in the closed setting. The heat equation maximum principle gives nonnegativity and applying uniqueness to the constant initial function gives conservation of total mass. Self-adjointness of the positive Laplace-Beltrami operator $\Delta$ gives symmetry.

Finally let $\{{\varphi }_j\}$ be a complete complex orthonormal eigenbasis of $\Delta$, with eigenvalues ${\lambda }_j\ge 0$, repeated by multiplicity. As subsidiary analytic facts we use the compact elliptic compact elliptic spectral theorem, elliptic regularity bounds making each fixed derivative of ${\varphi }_j$ grow at most polynomially in $1+{\lambda }_j$, and a polynomial eigenvalue-counting bound. The spectral expansion of the Riemannian heat kernel converges because exponential decay makes the following series converge with every derivative when $t\ge \epsilon >0$:Indeed, evolving initial data ${\varphi }_j$ gives $e^{-t{\lambda }_j}{\varphi }_j$ by direct substitution into the heat equation and uniqueness. For general $f\in L^2(M)$, completeness and the heat equation energy identity giveThe smoothly convergent kernel series represents this same operator, and equality for all smooth $f$ identifies it pointwise with the constructed heat kernel. The complex conjugate is required by the inner product; for a real eigenbasis it may be omitted. A noncompact Riemannian manifold may instead require a spectral integral, and the unqualified discrete formula should not be asserted there.

On a compact metric space $X$, a conservative Feller semigroup is a strongly continuous semigroup of positive linear maps on $C(X)$ satisfying $P_{t}1=1$. Positivity means $f\ge 0⟹P_{t}f\ge 0$. These conditions imply sup-norm contraction. Conversely, for a contraction semigroup with $1\in D(L)$ and $L1=0$, differentiation on the generator domain gives $\frac{d}{dt}{P}_{t}1=P_{t}L1=0$, so $P_{t}1=1$. On the real space $C(X)$, if $0\le f\le 1$, then $\Vert 1-P_{t}f{\Vert }_{\infty }\le \Vert 1-f{\Vert }_{\infty }\le 1$, implying $P_{t}f\ge 0$. Scaling proves positivity for every nonnegative $f$. This is the unital contraction positivity criterion. For complex $C(X)$ the same conclusion follows because each functional $f\mapsto P_{t}f(x)$ has norm one and value one on $1$, hence is a positive linear functional.

For each $t,x$, the Riesz-Markov-Kakutani representation theorem represents that functional by a unique Borel probability measure $p_t(x,dy)$:Continuity of $P_{t}f$ gives weak continuity of $x\mapsto p_t(x,\cdot )$. Approximating indicators of open sets increasingly by continuous functions proves Borel measurability in $x$; a monotone-class argument then gives a Markov kernel. The semigroup property and uniqueness of representing measures yield $p_0(x,\cdot )={\delta }_x$ and the Chapman-Kolmogorov equationThese are the required transition probabilities.

An invariant probability measure for a semigroup satisfies ${\int }_X{P}_{t}fd\mu ={\int }_{X}fd\mu$ for every $t\ge 0$ and $f\in C(X)$. Equivalently its distribution is preserved by the Markov kernel. For $1\le p<\infty$, Jensen inequality gives $|P_{t}f{|}^p\le P_t(|f{|}^p)$ pointwise. Integrating and using invariance provesAlso $\Vert P_{t}f-f{\Vert }_{L^p(\mu )}\le \Vert P_{t}f-f{\Vert }_{\infty }\to 0$. Continuous functions are dense in these $L^p$ spaces for a finite Borel measure on a compact metric space, so the contraction extends to a strongly continuous semigroup on $L^p(\mu )$.

For real $f$ with $f,f^2\in D(L)$, the kernel form of Jensen inequality gives $P_t(f^2)-(P_{t}f{)}^2\ge 0$, with equality at $t=0$. Take its right derivative to obtain the generator square inequalityThis is nonnegativity of the associated carré du champ.

Each time-average functional ${\varphi }_n$ is positive with ${\varphi }_n(1)=1$, hence represents a Borel probability measure ${\mu }_n$. The compactness of probability measures on a compact metric space gives a subsequence converging weakly to a probability measure $\mu$. Explicitly, $C(X)$ is a separable Banach space, so Banach-Alaoglu theorem and a countable dense family give a subsequence converging on every continuous function, rather than merely a net. For fixed $t\ge 0$, the semigroup property gives the Krylov-Bogolyubov time-average argument:Its absolute value is at most $2t\Vert f{\Vert }_{\infty }/n$. Pass to the subsequential limit, observing that $P_{t}f\in C(X)$, to get ${\int }_X{P}_{t}fd\mu ={\int }_{X}fd\mu$. Thus the limiting measure is invariant.

For $y\in D(A)$, the semigroup property givesHence $U(t)y\in D(A)$ andThe generator domain is therefore an invariant subspace, and the operator norm bound givesThusMoreover, strong continuity applied separately to $y$ and $Ay$ givesTherefore the restrictions form the semigroup restricted to its generator domain. Its derivative at zero exists in the graph norm exactly when $y\in D(A)$ and $Ay\in D(A)$, namely when $y\in D(A^2)$, and then the derivative is $Ay$. Hence its generator is

The familyinherits the identity, semigroup property, and strong continuity from $U$, whileIts difference quotient satisfiesfor $u\in D(A)$. Conversely, existence of this limit implies existence of the generator limit for $U$, so $D(\hat{A})=D(A)$ andThis is the exponentially shifted semigroup construction.

The Hille-Yosida theorem in the uniformly bounded case says that a linear operator $B$ on a Banach space generates a C0-semigroup with $\Vert e^{tB}\Vert \le M$ if and only if:

For the positive Laplace-Beltrami operator, the kernel solving $({\partial }_t+{\Delta }_x)H=0$ with initial Dirac delta distribution on the diagonal represents the heat semigroup. On a closed manifold with a Riemannian metric it is smooth for $t>0$, symmetric, nonnegative, preserves constants, and obeys the semigroup property.