Eigenvalues of fourth order Sturm-Liouville problems using Fliess series (Q1298637)

The author's previous results [Appl. Anal. 69, No. 3-4, 233-238 (1998; Zbl 0899.34049)] on the computation of eigenvalues of regular second-order Sturm-Liouville problems are extended to fourth-order problems, namely \[ y^{(4)}- (s(x)y^{(1)})^{(1)}+ q(x)y= \lambda y,\quad 0\leq x\leq a \] under the boundary conditions \[ y(0)= y^{(2)}(0)= y(a)= y^{(2)}(a)= 0. \] Approximations to eigenvalues are obtained by means of the solutions \(y(x,\lambda)\) satisfying the initial conditions \[ y(0,\lambda)= y^{(2)}(0,\lambda)= 0,\quad y^{(1)}(0,\lambda)= 1,\quad y^{(3)}(0,\lambda)= \alpha. \] Here, \(y^{(1)}(0,\lambda)= 1\) is a normalization, and \(\alpha\) is chosen so that \(y^{(2)}(a,\lambda)=0\). The concepts of iterated integrals and Fliess series are used to derive approximations for \(y(x,\lambda)\) as well as for the boundary function \(B(\lambda)= y(a,\lambda)\). The method is illustrated by two examples. Numerical results are presented and compared with those obtained by a standard method.