Lyapunov inequalities for Neumann boundary conditions at higher eigenvalues (Q845289)

The following Neumann boundary value problem \[ u''(x) + a(x)u(x) = 0, \quad x \in (0,L), \quad u'(0) = u'(L) = 0 \] is considered. It is based on the study of a Lyapunov-type inequality for the boundary condition at higher eigenvalues. The main result is derived from a detailed analysis of the number and distribution of zeros of nontrivial solutions and their first derivatives, together with the use of suitable minimization problems.