Self-adjoint boundary conditions for the prolate spheroid differential operator (Q1626076)

Let \(E\) be the compact interval \([-a,a]\) and \(Q\) the self-adjoint operator of multiplication by \(t^2\) on \(L^2(E)\). The author asks the following question: Which of the infinitely many self-adjoint extensions \(M\) of the Legendre differential expression on \((-a,a)\) have the property that \(M+Q\) commutes with the Fourier transform restricted to \(E\)? This question originated from a problem in electrical engineering that was solved by David Slapian and his collaborators in the early 1960s (references are given in the paper). The author decides to parametrize the self-adjoint extensions from scratch by himself, using the method of boundary forms. He finds that there is exactly one such extension, namely, the one given by the requirement that \((1-t^2/a^2) x'(t)\) vanishes when \(t\) tends to the endpoints of \(E\). Reviewer's remark: This boundary condition characterizes the Friedrichs extension of the Legendre expression; see [\textit{H. Kalf}, Sitzungsberichte der Berliner Mathematischen Gesellschaft. Herausgegeben vom Vorstand der Gesellschaft. Jahrgänge 1988--1992. Berlin: Berliner Mathematische Gesellschaft (1992; Zbl 0785.00009)] or [\textit{H.-D. Niessen} and \textit{A. Zettl}, Proc. Lond. Math. Soc. (3) 64, No. 3, 545--578 (1992; Zbl 0768.34015)]. For the entire collection see [Zbl 1388.46001].