Characterizations of positive operators via their powers

Abstract: In this paper, we present new characterizations of normal and positive operators in terms of their powers. Among other things, we show that if $T^2$ is normal, $\mathcal{W}(T^{2k+1})$ lies on one side of a line passing through the origin (possibly including some points on the line) for some $k\in\mathbb{N}$, and $\mathrm{asc\,}(T)= 1$ (or $\mathrm{dsc\,}(T)=1$), then $T$ must be normal. This complements the previous result due to Putnam [28]. Furthermore, we prove that $T$ is normal (positive) if and only if $\mathrm{asc\,}(T)= 1$ and there exist coprime numbers $p,q\geq 2$ such that $T^p$ and $T^q$ are normal (positive). Finally, we also show that $T$ is positive if and only if $T^k$ is accretive for all $k\in\mathbb{N}$, which answers the question from [22] in the affirmative.