Comparable solutions to \(n\)th-order linear difference equations (Q1591024)

The author considers the \(n\)th-order linear difference equation \[ \ell_ny(t)= L_ny(t)+ q(t)y\left(t+ \left[{n\over 2}\right] \right)= 0 \] for \(t\in[a,b]\) where \(q(t)\) is a real-valued function defined on \([a,b]\). The formal adjoint operator \(\ell_n^*\) of \(\ell_n\) is \[ \ell_n^*z(t)= L_n^* z(t)+ (-1)^nq(t)z \left(+\left[{n \over 2}\right] \right), \] for \(t\in [a,b]\). The author compares the boundary value solutions of \(\ell_ny(t)=0\) to similar solutions of the adjoint equation \(\ell_n^*z(t)=0\).