Fractional powers of quaternionic operators and Kato’s formula using slice hyperholomorphicity

In this paper we introduce fractional powers of quaternionic operators. Their definition is based on the theory of slice hyperholomorphic functions and on the $S$-resolvent operators of the quaternionic functional calculus. The integral representation formulas of the fractional powers and the quaternionic version of Kato’s formula are based on the notion of $S$-spectrum of a quaternionic operator. The proofs of several properties of the fractional powers of quaternionic operators rely on the $S$-resolvent equation. This equation, which is very important and of independent interest, has already been introduced in the case of bounded quaternionic operators, but for the case of unbounded operators some additional considerations have to be taken into account. Moreover, we introduce a new series expansion for the pseudo-resolvent, which is of independent interest and allows to investigate the behavior of the $S$-resolvents close to the $S$-spectrum. The paper is addressed to researchers working in operator theory and in complex analysis.