Left shift operator 2026-10-06
On the Hilbert space , the left shift deletes the first coordinate. It is the adjoint operator of the unilateral shift operator . The identities and show that it is also the Moore–Penrose inverse of an operator for ; both maps have operator norm one.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 ii Paper 4 19G Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
Use an inner product linear in the first variable. For each , the bounded linear functional is represented uniquely by a vector under the Riesz representation theorem, so . Uniqueness and the conjugate-linearity in the second argument imply . FurthermoreThus the adjoint operator exists, is linear and bounded, and is unique because a vector orthogonal to every is zero.
A normal operator satisfies . The unilateral unilateral shift operator on is bounded but not normal: , whereas . For general ,Normality implies equality of norms. Conversely equality for every makes this self-adjoint operator's quadratic form zero; the polarization identity then gives .
An approximate eigenvalue has unit vectors with . It is necessarily in the spectrum, since a bounded inverse would prevent this. Conversely suppose is not an approximate eigenvalue. Then is bounded below, . It is injective and has closed range: a convergent sequence forces to be Cauchy. The operator is normal, so and . The identity makes its range dense. Closed and dense means surjective, and its inverse is bounded by . Hence is in the resolvent. This proves .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 iii Paper 326 1 ii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
The given map is the unilateral shift operator. Its adjoint operator is the left shift operator, sinceThe shift is an isometry with trivial kernel and closed range . Its range has orthogonal complement , so every square-summable datum is admissible. Consequently,Indeed , while is the required orthogonal projection. The discarded first component is the residual of the least-squares solution, not an obstruction to the existence of the Moore–Penrose inverse of an operator.