A note on the Sturmian theorem for singular boundary value problems (Q1306879)

The author considers the boundary value problem \[ -(p(t)x'(t))'= \lambda p(t) r(t)x(t),\quad t\in(0,1),\quad x(0)= x(1)= 0,\tag{1} \] where the functions \(p\) and \(r\) are singular at the boundary \(t= 0\), \(t=1\). Under some assumptions, the author proves that problem (1) has the sequence of eigenvalues \(\lambda_1< \lambda_2<\cdots< \lambda_n<\cdots\to \infty\) and the corresponding eigenfunctions \(\{x_n\}\) have the following properties: 1) \(x_n\) has at least \(n\) zeros in \((0,1)\), 2) if \(\Gamma_n\) denotes the number of zeros of \(x_n\) in \((0,1)\), then \(\Gamma_{n+1}- \Gamma_n\geq 1\). To prove the main results, the author presents a number of properties of the eigenfunctions on some weighted Banach spaces and utilizes the Green function corresponding to problem (1).