Viscosity limits for 0th order pseudodifferential operators

Abstract

Motivated by the work of Colin de Verdi\`ere and Saint-Raymond on spectral theory 0th order pseudodifferential operators on tori we consider viscosity limits in which 0th order operators $ P $ are replaced by $ P + i \nu \Delta $, $ \nu > 0 $. By adapting the Helffer--Sj\"ostrand theory of scattering resonances we show that in a complex neighbourhood of the continuous spectrum eigenvalues of $ P + i \nu \Delta $ have limits as viscosity $ \nu $ goes to 0. In the simplified setting of tori this justifies claims made in the physics literature.