Spectrum of a differential operator with periodic generalized potential (Q2472102)

Let \(m\in\mathbb{Z}\), \(\alpha,\beta\neq 0\) be real numbers, \(q\) locally square integrable, real-valued, periodic with period 1. The authors consider first the operators \(H_0\) and \(H_{\alpha\beta}\) in \(L^2= L^2(\Omega)\) defined as follows: \(u\in D(H_0)\) iff \(u\in C^\infty_0(\Omega)\), \(u(n)= 0= u'(k)\) with \(n\leq m< k\), \(H_0 u= -u''+ qu\). \(H_{\alpha\beta}\) is the restriction of the adjoint \(H^*_0\) of \(H_0\) to the set of all \(u\in D(H^*_0)\) such that \(u\) is continuous at \(n\) and \(u'\) is continuous at \(k\), if \(n\leq m< k\) and \[ u'(n+)- u'(n-)= \alpha u(n),\quad n\leq m, \] \[ u(n+)- u(n-)= \beta u'(n),\quad n> m. \] They show that \(H_{\alpha\beta}\) is a self-adjoint operator in \(L^2\). Note that \(H_{\alpha\beta}\) is often referred to as \[ H_{\alpha\beta}= -{d^2\over dx^2}+ q+ \alpha\sum^m_{n=-\infty}\delta(x- n)+ \beta\sum^\infty_{n= m+1} \delta'(x- n). \] The authors prove that the absolutely continuous spectrum of \(H_{\alpha\beta}\) is the union of infinitely many pairwise disjoint intervals and present a method for the computation of these bands. It turns out that the lengths of the gaps between the bands tend to a strictly positive real number in one direction and to infinity in the other direction. Moreover, the authors present methods for the computation of the eigenvalues of \(H_{\alpha\beta}\).