A Scalar Analytic Characterization for Dominant Spectral Poles under Rank-One Minorization

Abstract: This paper provides a resolvent-based, determinant-free characterization of the dominant spectral pole for positive operators on Banach lattices under a rank-one Doeblin-type minorization. Departing from traditional requirements of compactness or trace-class properties, we demonstrate that the dominant eigenvalue is strictly positive, algebraically simple, and uniquely identified as the zero of a Birman--Schwinger-type scalar analytic function. The associated spectral projection is explicitly obtained as a rank-one residue. Our approach reduces complex spectral problems to the analysis of a scalar function, providing a bridge between abstract Krein--Rutman theory and constructive operator methods.