The Proper Dissipative Extensions of a Dual Pair

Let A and B be dissipative operators on a Hilbert space H and let (A,B) form a dual pair, i.e. A ? B*, resp. B ? A*. We present a method of determining the proper dissipative extensions C of this dual pair, i.e. A ? C ? B* provided that D(A) ? D(B) is dense in H. Applications to symmetric operators, symmetric operators perturbed by a relatively bounded dissipative operator and more singular differential operators are discussed. Finally, we investigate the stability of the numerical range of the different dissipative extensions.