A rigorous verification of a numerically computed eigenvalue (Q1972493)

The author considers the periodic Sturm-Liouville eigenvalue problem \[ \begin{aligned} & -y''+ (k^2\sin^2(x)- 3\cos(x)) y(x)= \lambda y(x),\quad 0\leq x\leq 2\pi,\\ & y(0)= y(2\pi),\;y'(0)= y'(2\pi).\end{aligned} \] By construction \(\phi(x):= \sin(x)\exp(k\cos(x))\) is an eigenfunction corresponding to \(\lambda= 1\), which has two zeros in \([0,2\pi)\). By computer assistance, \textit{C. T. Fulton} [Lect. Notes Pure Appl. Math. 191, 285-299 (1996; Zbl 0880.34026)] conjectured that \(\lambda= 1\) is the lowest eigenvalue. This is proven by the author for \(k\) small enough.