Widths of weighted Sobolev classes on a closed interval and the spectra of nonlinear differential equations (Q455535)

Let \(X\) be a normed space, \(M\subset X\). For \(n \in \mathbb{Z}\), let \(\mathcal {L}_n(X)\) be the family of all subspaces of \(X\) of dimension \(n\). If \(M\) is centrally symmetric, its Kolmogorov and Bernstein \(n\)-widths are defined by \[ d_n(M,X)=\inf_{L\in \mathcal{L}_n(X)}\sup_{x\in M}\inf_{y\in L}\|x-y\|,\quad b_n(M,X)=\sup_{L\in \mathcal{L}_{n+1}(X)}\inf_{x\in M\cap L}\|x\|, \] respectively. It is known that \(d_n(M,X)\geq b_n(M,X)\). For \(1<p\leq q<\infty \), \(r\in \mathbb{N}\), and measurable functions \(g,v:[0,1]\to \mathbb{R}_+\), the weighted Riemann-Liouville operator \(I_{r,g,v,0}:L_q[a,b]\to L_p[a,b]\) is defined by \[ I_{r,g,v,0}f(t)=v(t)\int_0^t(t-\tau )^{r-1}g(\tau )f(\tau )\,d\tau . \] An auxiliary nonlinear boundary value problem for a system \((x,y)\) involving a parameter \(\lambda \) is introduced, where \(x\) has \(n\) sign changes. The largest \(\lambda \) for which this system has a solution is denoted by \(\overline{\lambda }_n\). Let \[ \hat W_{q,g}^r[0,1]=\{I_{r,g,v,0}\varphi :\|\varphi \|\leq1\},\quad L_{p,v}[0,1]=\{f\in L_0[0,1]:\|f\|_{p,v}:=\|vf\|_p<\infty \}. \] The following theorem is shown: If \(I_{r,g,v,0}\) is compact, then \[ d_n(\hat W_{q,g}^r[0,1],L_{p,v}[0,1])>d_{n+1}(\hat W_{q,g}^r[0,1],L_{p,v}[0,1]). \] If additionally \(p=q\), then \[ d_n(\hat W_{q,g}^r[0,1],L_{p,v}[0,1])=b_n(\hat W_{q,g}^r[0,1],L_{p,v}[0,1]). \] This generalizes results which have been obtained for piecewise continuous functions \(g\) and \(v\) by \textit{A. P. Buslaev} and \textit{V. M. Tikhomirov} [Mat. Sb. 181, No. 12, 1587--1606 (1990; Zbl 0718.34113)] and \textit{A. P. Buslaev} [Algebra Anal. 3, No. 6, 108--118 (1991; Zbl 0761.34058)].