Left-definite variations of the classical Fourier expansion theorem (Q836701)

For a self-adjoint operator \(A\) in a Hilbert space \(H\), which is bounded from below by a positive constant, \textit{L.\,L.\thinspace Littlejohn} and \textit{R.\,Wellman} [see, J.~Differ.\ Equations 181, No.\,2, 280--339 (2002; Zbl 1008.47029)] constructed the left-definite theory. In the paper under review, this general theory is applied to the differential operator \(Ay=-y^{\prime\prime}+k y\), \(k>0\), in \(H=L^2(a,b)\), subject to periodic boundary conditions \(y(a) = y(b)\), \(y^\prime(a) = y^\prime(b)\). For every positive integer \(n\), the left-definite space \(H_n = {\mathcal D}(A^{n/2})\) and the corresponding inner product \((f, g)_n = (A^{n/2}f,A^{n/2}g)\) on \(H_n\) are computed, where \((\cdot,\cdot)\) is the standard inner product in \(L^2(a, b)\). As a consequence, for each positive integer \(n\), explicit characterizations of the domains \({\mathcal D}(A^{n/2})\) are obtained. Moreover, the Fourier expansion theorem in each left-definite space \(H_n\) is developed.