On the discrete spectrum of a family of differential operators (Q2486710)

The differential operator \[ -\frac{\partial^2}{\partial x^2}+\frac{1}{2}\left(-\frac{\partial^2}{\partial y^2}+y^2\right) \] on the space \(L^2({\mathbb R}^2)\) with eigenfunctions \(U\) satisfying the transmission condition \[ \frac{\partial U}{\partial x}(+0,y)-\frac{\partial U}{\partial x}(-0,y)=\alpha yU(0,y),\quad y\in {\mathbb R}, \] on the line \(x=0\) defines a family of operators parametrized by the real number \(\alpha\). The author studies the eigenvalues of this family and shows that for \(0<\alpha<\sqrt{2}\) there are finitely many eigenvalues and for \(\alpha>\sqrt{2}\) the spectrum is purely continuous and coincides with \(\mathbb R\). The asymptotic behaviour of the number of eigenvalues as \(\alpha\) approaches \(\sqrt{2}\) from below is shown to be the same problem as the spatial asymptotics for a certain Jacobi matrix. The perturbative aspect of the transmission condition is also studied.