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Abstract We consider the initial‐value problem for a one‐dimensional wave equation with coefficients that are positive, constant outside of an interval, and have bounded variation (BV). Under the assumption of compact support of the initial data, we prove that the local energy decays exponentially fast in time, and provide the explicit constant to which the solution converges. The key ingredient of the proof is a high‐frequency resolvent estimate for an associated Helmholtz operator with a BV potential. 

We prove an explicit weighted estimate for the semiclassical Schrödinger operatorP = - h^{2} \partial^{2}_{x} + V(x;h)onL^{2}(\R), withV(x;h)a finite signed measure, and whereh >0is the semiclassical parameter. The proof is a one-dimensional instance of the spherical energy method, which has been used to prove Carleman estimates in higher dimensions and in more complicated geometries. The novelty of our result is that the potential need not be absolutely continuous with respect to Lebesgue measure. Two consequences of the weighted estimate are the absence of positive eigenvalues forP, and a limiting absorption resolvent estimate with sharph-dependence. The resolvent estimate implies exponential time-decay of the local energy for solutions to the corresponding wave equation with a compactly supported measure potential, provided there are no negative eigenvalues and no zero resonance, and provided the initial data have compact support. 

We consider, for h , E > 0, resolvent estimates for the semiclassical Schrödinger operator − h 2 Δ + V − E. Near infinity, the potential takes the form V = V L + V S , where V L is a long range potential which is Lipschitz with respect to the radial variable, while V S = O ( | x | − 1 ( log | x | ) − ρ ) for some ρ > 1. Near the origin, | V | may behave like | x | − β , provided 0 ⩽ β < 2 ( 3 − 1 ). We find that, for any ρ ˜ > 1, there are C , h 0 > 0 such that we have a resolvent bound of the form exp ( C h − 2 ( log ( h − 1 ) ) 1 + ρ ˜ ) for all h ∈ ( 0 , h 0 ]. The h-dependence of the bound improves if V S decays at a faster rate toward infinity.