Inequalities among eigenvalues of Sturm-Liouville problems with distribution potentials (Q2258988): Difference between revisions

The authors consider the Sturm--Liouville differential expression \[ L y = - (p (x) y')' + q (x) y \] on a bounded interval \((a, b)\), where the potential~\(q\) is a distribution, namely~\(q\) is the distributional derivative of a locally integrable, real function~\(u\). Moreover, the function \(p > 0\) is chosen such that \(1/p, u/p\), and \(u^2/p\) are integrable. The differential expression~\(L\) is equipped with several boundary conditions which lead to selfadjoint realizations in~\(L^2 (a, b)\) with purely discrete spectra. It is shown that the \(n\)-th eigenvalue of such a selfadjoint realization depends on the parameters in the boundary conditions in a continuously differentiable way, and the derivative is calculated in terms of the corresponding normalized eigenfunction. Moreover, a collection of inequalities between the eigenvalues of different selfadjoint realizations is proved and oscillation properties of eigenfunctions are studied. As an application, the autors consider the transmission problem \[ - (p (x) y')' + q^* (x) y = \lambda y, \qquad (p y') (c_+) - (p y') (c_-) = y (c) \] on \((a, c) \cup (c, b)\) for some~\(c \in (a, b)\) with a regular potential~\(q^*\) and selfadjoint boundary conditions at~\(a\) and~\(b\). This problem can be reduced to an eigenvalue problem for~\(L\) with~\(q (x) = \delta (x - c)\). Thus, the previous results of the paper apply to that transmission problem.