An algebraic foundation for factoring linear boundary problems (Q731385)

The authors define an abstract boundary problem as a pair consisting of a surjective linear map (``differential operator'') and an orthogonally closed subspace of the dual space (``boundary conditions''). That definition is motivated by boundary problems for linear differential equations. Defining the composition of boundary problems corresponding to their Green's operators in reverse order, the authors characterize and construct all factorizations of a boundary problem from a given factorization of the defining operator. In the the case of ordinary differential equations, the main results can be made algorithmic. As an example, a factorization of the boundary problem for the wave equation is presented.