Five integral inequalities; an inheritance from Hardy and Littlewood (Q1381892)

This is a very interesting paper which should not be overlooked by anyone interested in the subject. The point of departure is the classical inequality of Hardy and Littlewood, \[ \Biggl(\int_0^\infty f'(x)^2dx\Biggr)^2\leq 4 \int_0^\infty f(x)^2dx \int_0^\infty f''(x)^2dx, \] which is true whenever \(f\) and \(f'\) are locally absolutely continuous and \(f,f''\in L^2[0,\infty)\); equality holds if and only if, for some \(\alpha\in\mathbb R\) and \(\rho>0\), \(f(x)=\alpha Y(\rho x)\), where \(Y(x)=\exp(-\frac 12x)\sin(\frac 12x\sqrt{3} - \frac 13\pi)\). This inequality is connected with the spectral analysis of the linear ordinary differential equation \[ -y''=\lambda y, \] where \(\lambda\in\mathbb C\) is the spectral parameter, in the following sense: the solutions of the last equation that lie in \(L^2\) provide a method of proof of the above-mentioned theorem of Hardy and Littlewood that allows extensive generalization. In the paper under review five special cases of the more general equation \[ -y''(x)+(q(x)-\tau)y(x)=\lambda y(x) \] are discussed, namely the cases when \(q(x)\) is one of the following: \(x^2\), \(-x\), \(x\), \(-x^2\), and \(\frac 12(x+1)^{-2}\). The analysis of each of the particular cases consists of: (i) determining whether the corresponding inequality, namely, \[ \Biggl(\int_0^\infty [f'(x)^2+(q(x)-\tau)f(x)^2 ]dx\Biggr)^2\leq K(\tau) \int_0^\infty f(x)^2dx \int_0^\infty [f''(x)-(q(x)-\tau)f(x)]^2dx \] is valid; (ii) if valid, then to determine or characterize the best constant \(K(\tau)\); and (iii) to determine or characterize all possible cases of equality. A number of results is obtained and also a number of conjectures is stated.