A canonical decomposition for linear operators and linear relations

Abstract

An arbitrary linear relation (multivalued operator) acting from one Hilbert space to another Hilbert space is shown to be the sum of a closable operator and a singular relation whose closure is the Cartesian product of closed subspaces. This decomposition can be seen as an analog of the Lebesgue decomposition of a measure into a regular part and a singular part. The two parts of a relation are characterized metrically and in terms of Stone's characteristic projection onto the closure of the linear relation.