Symmetric differential operators and their Friedrichs extensions (Q1343697)

The authors consider symmetric ordinary regular quasi-differential expressions generated by a certain class of matrices whose elements are locally integrable. Related operator realizations are studied in weighted \(L_ 2\) spaces. The authors characterize in an elegant way all symmetric and selfadjoint operator realizations in terms of boundary conditions. For symmetric differential expressions inducing operators which are bounded from below, the boundary conditions determining the Friedrichs extension are given explicitly. The characterization of the symmetric boundary conditions seems to be completely new, the boundary conditions defining the Friedrichs extension were known only in various special cases. The results of this paper are not only interesting for themselves, they will also be a useful tool for studying boundary eigenvalue problems involving symmetric differential operators of the form considered here.