The age-dependent eigenfunctions of certain Kolmogorov equations of engineering, economics, and biology (Q1118551)

The goal is to develop state-variable models of population dynamics. Our long-term motivation is the application of modern system theory to those engineering management tasks which can be thought of as problems of population control. Our main reference, therefore, is to populations of machines, but we do not neglect, entirely, the biological implications of what we do. It is known that eigenfunction analysis can be useful for the purpose of formulation of state-variable models. This is because of the qualitative features of the eigenvalue spectrum of the basic, partial differential operator: A small number of eigenvalues have positive real part while the remainder, though infinite in number, are in the left half-plane. Our main contributions are to account for the not quite equal rate of aging (service) of the individuals that make up the population and to complete the solution of the eigenproblem even though the eigenfunctions are not orthogonal and the operator has a variable coefficient.