Selfadjoint boundary value problems associated with a pair of mixed linear ordinary differential equations (Q910694)

The authors investigate the generalized selfadjoint boundary value problems associated with \((L_ 1,L_ 2)\) where \[ L_ 1x=\sum^{n}_{k=0}P_ k(d^ kx/dt^ k)=\lambda x \] is defined on an interval \(J_ 1\), and \[ L_ 2y=\sum^{m}_{k=0}Q_ k(d^ kx/dt^ k)=\lambda x \] is defined on the adjacent interval \(J_ 2\), where \(J_ 1\) and \(J_ 2\) have a common boundary point \(t=b\) and \(\lambda\) is an unknown eigenvalue. The existence and the characters of the above problem is given in the following cases: (i) x and y at the interface point \(t=b\) are not explicitly related to each other, (ii) x and y satisfy continuity conditions at \(t=b\), and (iii) x and y satisfy certain matching conditions at \(t=b.\) Some physical examples from acoustic wave guides in ocean and transverse vibrations in non-homogeneous strings are given.