Spectral theory of operator pencils, Hermite-Biehler functions, and their applications (Q2343015)

This book consists of four parts. The first part is devoted to operator pencils. In Chapter 1, the authors consider quadratic operator pencils \(L\) of the form \[ L(\lambda)=\lambda^2M-i\lambda K-A,\quad \lambda\in\mathbb C, \] and \[ L(\lambda,\eta)=\lambda^2M-i\lambda\eta K-A,\quad \lambda,\eta\in\mathbb C, \] with domain \(D(L(\lambda))=D(M)\cap D(K)\cap D(A)\) on a Hilbert space \(H\). Imposing some conditions on the operators \(M\), \(K\) and \(A\), the authors obtain some spectral properties of the quadratic operator pencil \(L\). In particular, they describe the location of the eigenvalues of the pencil \(L\) in the upper and lower half-planes. In Chapter 2, the authors give some applications on the Regge problem, damped vibrations of strings, vibrations of star graphs with damping, Sturm-Liouville problems on forked graphs, Sturm-Liouville problems on lasso graphs, damped vibrations of Stieltjes strings and damped vibrations of beams. In Chapter 3, the authors study operator pencils with essential spectrum. In Chapter 4, the authors consider the operator pencil \(L(\lambda)\) as \[ L(\lambda)=\lambda^2I-i\lambda K-\lambda B-A \] with domain \(D(L(\lambda))=D(K)\cap D(B)\cap D(A)\). Imposing some conditions on \(K\), \(B\) and \(A\), they obtain some results on the spectra of the operator pencil. The authors also show that the equation \(L(\lambda)=0\) can be represented with the operator matrix representation. Then, they construct linearized pencils in Pontryagin spaces. In a subsection, the case \(K=0\) is also investigated with the family of pencils \[ L(\lambda,\eta)=\lambda^2I-\lambda\eta B-A. \] The second part is devoted to Hermite-Biehler (HB) functions. In Chapter 5, the authors give the definition and some properties of the HB class and the shifted HB class. In particular, they investigate the properties of the zeros of entire functions belonging to the HB or the shifted HB classes. In Chapter 6, the authors construct entire functions whose zeros coincide with the eigenvalues of the generalized Regge problem, damped vibrations of Stieltjes strings, vibrations of smooth strings, vibrations of star graphs, forked graphs, lasso graphs, beams with friction at one end, and vibrations of damped beams. The third part is devoted to direct and inverse problems. In Chapter 7, the authors investigate the asymptotics of the zeros of some classes of entire functions, some of which are related with the generalized Regge problem, the damped string problem and star graphs of strings. In Chapter 8, the authors consider the inverse problems of the generalized Regge problem, damped Stieltjes strings, damped strings and Sturm-Liouville problem on a star graph. The fourth part is devoted to background materials. In Chapter 9, the authors give some results on zeros of analytic functions of two variables. In Chapter 10, the authors give a detailed description of differential operators on Sobolev spaces. In Chapter 11, the authors give some information and results on meromorphic functions from the open upper half-plane into itself and sine type functions. In Chapter 12, the authors deal with inverse Sturm-Liouville problems. They give some formulas for the solutions and some algorithms to recover their potential from two of their spectra.