Trace formula for Sturm-Liouville operators with singular potentials (Q5951059)

The trace formula for the Sturm-Liouville operator \(S\) on \(L^2(0,\pi)\) generated by \(-y''+q(x)y\) with the Dirichlet boundary conditions \(y(0)=y(\pi)=0\) is considered. For sufficiently regular potential, this formula is well-known. Here, the case \(q=u'\) (in the sense of distributions) is investigated, where \(u\) is of bounded variation. If \((\lambda _k)\) denotes the sequence of eigenvalues and \(h_j\) the jumps of \(u\), the trace formula \[ \sum_{k=1}^\infty (\lambda _k-k^2+b_{2k}) =-\frac 18\sum h_j^2,\quad b_k=\frac 1\pi\int_0^\pi \cos kx du(x), \] is shown. If, additionally, \(q\) is continuous at \(0\) and \(\pi\), then the mean-value of the series \(\sum_{k=1}^\infty (\lambda _k-k^2)\) is \(-\frac{q(0)+q(\pi)}4-\frac 18\sum h_j^2\).