Positive self-adjoint operators generated by products of differential expressions (Q1877796)

Let \(l\) denote the linear differential expression of order \(n\) on the closed interval \([a,b]\) given by \[ ly=\sum_{i=0}^n p_i(t)y^{(i)}, \] where \[ p_n(t) \neq 0,\;t\in[a,b]; \quad p_i(t):[a,b]\to {\mathbb C};\quad p_i(t)\in{\mathbb C}^{n+i}[a,b]. \] Let \(l^+\) be the formally adjoint expression and let \(\tau=l^+l\). A complete characterization of all positive self-adjoint extensions of the minimal operator generated by \(\tau\) in terms of boundary conditions is given.