Continuity of the eigenvalues of nonhomogeneous hinged vibrating rods (Q274245)

The authors study the nonhomogeneous hinged vibrating rod, modeled by the equation \[ y^{(4)}(x) - \lambda \rho(x) y(x)=0 \text{ on } [0,1] \] with the boundary conditions \[ y(0)=y(1)=y''(0)=y''(1)=0. \] Here \(\rho \in L^p([0,1])\) for some \(p\geq 1\), \(\rho \geq 0\), \(\rho\) not a.e. equal to \(0\). This operator has discrete spectrum \(\lambda_1(\rho) < \lambda_2(\rho) < \dots \to \infty\). The authors prove the continuity of the spectrum in the sense that if \(\rho_n \to \rho\) weakly, then \(\lambda_m(\rho_n) \to \lambda_m(\rho)\) for all \(m\). The result is proved via a min-max characterization of the eigenvalues.