This preprint was accepted December 17, 2007
ABSTRACT: We study perturbations $(\tilde\tau_t)_{t\ge 0}$ of the semigroup of shifts $(\tau_t)_{t\ge 0}$ on $L^2(\R_+)$ with the property that $\tilde\tau_t - \tau_t$ belongs to a certain Schatten--von Neumann class $\S_p$ with $p\ge 1$. We show that, for the unitary component in the Wold--Kolmogorov decomposition, any singular spectral type may be achieved by $\S_1$ perturbations. We provide an explicit construction based on the theory of model spaces of the Hardy space, for a perturbation with a given spectral type. For $p>1$, the unitary component of the perturbed semigroup may have any prescribed spectral type.[Full text: (.ps.gz)]