Compactness and invariance properties of evolution operators associated with Kolmogorov operators with unbounded coefficients

Abstract: In this paper we consider nonautonomous elliptic operators ${\mathcal A}$ with nontrivial potential term defined in $I\times\mathbb R^d$, where $I$ is a right-halfline (possibly $I=\mathbb R$). We prove that we can associate an evolution operator $(G(t,s))$ with ${\mathcal A}$ in the space of all bounded and continuous functions on $\mathbb R^d$. We also study the compactness properties of the operator $G(t,s)$. Finally, we provide sufficient conditions guaranteeing that each operator $G(t,s)$ preserves the usual $L^p$-spaces and $C_0(\mathbb R^d)$.