Oscillation numbers for continuous Lagrangian paths and Maslov index (Q6132891)

The main purpose of this paper is to study the oscillation number \(N (Y, [a, b])\) and the dual oscillation number \(N^*(Y,[a, b])\) for a continuous Lagrangian path \(Y\) on an interval \([a, b]\). Let us recall that a Lagrangian path is a mapping \(Y : [a, b]\to \mathbb{R}^{2n\times n}\) such that \[ Y^T(t)\mathcal{J}Y(t)=0 , \qquad \operatorname{rank} Y(t)=n,\qquad t\in[a,b], \] where \(\mathcal{J} \in {\mathbb R}^{2n\times 2n}\) is the canonical skew-symmetric matrix. These numbers are a generalization of notions introduced by the first author in [Appl. Math. Lett. 90, 15--22 (2019; Zbl 1406.37046); Appl. Math. Lett. 103, Article ID 106173, 8 p. (2020; Zbl 1447.34035); Monatsh. Math. 193, No. 2, 305--328 (2020; Zbl 1448.37062); J. Difference Equ. Appl. 26, No. 4, 458--487 (2020; Zbl 1458.39004)]. Originally they were based on a partition of the interval \([a,b]\) and the generalization consists in the use of nonconstant symplectic matrices in the partition. The main goal of this paper is to connect the oscillation numbers with the Maslov index. Indeed, the authors obtain a formula for the Maslov index of two continuous Lagrangian paths via the Lidskii angles of a special symplectic orthogonal matrix; this allows the authors to express the Maslov index as the oscillation number of a certain transformed Lagrangian path.