Length of the instability intervals for Hill's equation (Q1877319)

The author is concerned with Hill's equation \[ y^{\prime\prime}(x)+\omega(\omega-2\varepsilon p(x))y(x)=0,\tag{1} \] where \(\omega, \varepsilon\) are real parameters, \(p(x)\) is a real-valued locally integrable and periodic function with period \(1\) and of average value \(1\). When \(\varepsilon\) is small and \(p(x)\) has an infinite Fourier series \(p(x)=\sum_{n=-\infty}^{+\infty}c_ne^{2in\pi x}, c_0=1\), by means of Floquet's theory, it is proved that the length of the \(n\)th instability interval for (1) is given by \(\Delta \omega_n=2| \varepsilon| | c_n| +O(\varepsilon^2)\) provided \(c_n\neq 0,\) and \(\Delta \omega_n=| a_n| \varepsilon^2+O(\varepsilon^3),\) if \(c_n=0,\) where \(a_n=\frac{1}{\pi}\sum_{k=-\infty, k\neq \pm n}^{+\infty}| c_k| ^2/(n-k).\) This result improves the result of \textit{A. Erdélyi} [Ann. Phys. 19, 585--622 (1934; Zbl 0008.39301)] and those of \textit{D.M. Levy} and \textit{J.B. Keller} [Commun. Pure Appl. Math. 16, 469--476 (1963; Zbl 0121.31202)] when, for the latter, the number of terms in the Fourier series of \(p(x)\) goes to infinity.