Deficiency indices of a symmetric ordinary differential operator with infinitely many degeneration points (Q2486698)

Let \(H:L^2({\mathbb R})\rightarrow L^2({\mathbb R})\) be the minimal symmetric operator generated by the differential expression \(s[f]=(-1)^n(c(x)f^{(n)}(x))^{(n)}\) of the order \(2n\geq2\). It is assumed that the real function \(c\in L_{loc}^2({\mathbb R})\) has countably many zeros of two-sided orders \((p_-,p_+)\) without finite accumulation point, and that it has derivatives of any order in each point \(x\) such that \(c(x)\not=0\). Let \(J\) be an arbitrary interval of the real axis \({\mathbb R}\), and let \(H(J)\) be the minimal symmetric operator generated by \(s[f]\) on \(L^2(J)\). The main result of this paper can be rephrased as follows: If the zeros of \(c\) form an infinite sequence such that for any zero, the following condition is satisfied \[ n-\tfrac12<p_-,\;p_+<2n- \tfrac12, \] then the defficiency index of \(H,\) \(\operatorname {Def}H=+\infty.\) If the zeros of \(c\) form an increasing sequence \(\{x_r\}_{r=-\infty}^\infty\) with \(J_r=(x_{r-1},x_r)\) such that \(\lim_{r\rightarrow\pm\infty}x_r=\pm\infty\), and if for any zero the condition \(p_-,p_+\geq 2n-{1\over2}\) is satisfied, then \(H\) and \(H(J_r)\) are selfadjoint and the decomposition of the operator \(H\), \(H=\bigoplus_{r=-\infty}^\infty H(J_r)\) holds. \noindent If the zeros of \(c\) are as above, then it follows: if multiplicities (in the classical sense) of all zeros are \(\geq 2n\), then \(\operatorname{Def}H=0\); if multiplicities of infinitely many zeros lie in the interval \([n,2n-1]\), then \(\operatorname{Def}H=\infty\).