On an inverse spectral problem (Q1678776)

The author considers the inverse spectral problem of reconstructing a function \(Q\) appearing in \[ (Qy')' +\lambda (y(x)-ky''(x))=0\text{ for }0\leq x \leq 1, \] where \(y\) is subject to \[ y(0)=y(1)=0,\, \int_0^1 y(x)dx=0 \] for \(k>0\). The sought \(Q\) is normalized by \(\int_0^1 Q(x)dx=1\) and the question is to find \(Q\) that minimizes the first eigenvalue, \[ \lambda(Q)=\inf_{y\in S} \frac{\int_0^1 Q(x)y'(x)^2dx}{\int_0^1 y(x)^2+ky'(x)^2dx}, \] where \[ S=\left\{ y\in C^1(0,1): y(0)=y(1)=0 \text{ and }\int_0^1 y(x)dx=0 .\right\} \] The main result is the characterization of the optimal function \(Q_0(x)=M(q(x)+k)\), where \(q\) is the solution of the differential equation \[ q^2(x)q^{'2}(x)=cq^2(x)-2q^3(x)-a^2b^2,\quad q(0)=\sqrt{a^2+b^2}. \]