Weak and strong oscillation of even-order elliptic and ordinary differential equations (Q915952)

\textit{W. Allegretto} [Pac. J. Math. 55, 319-328 (1974; Zbl 0279.35036)] has shown that the general second-order linear elliptic equation is nodally oscillatory (i.e., has a nodal domain outside every ball) if and only if every \(C^ 2\) solution of the equation is oscillatory. In the present paper, the author exhibits a class of linear elliptic equations (of order 2m\(\geq 4)\) which are nodally nonoscillatory in \({\mathbb{R}}^ n\setminus \{0\}\), but every \(C^{2m}\) solution of which is oscillatory. The author also constructs a class of nodally oscillatory linear elliptic equations (of order 2m\(\geq 6)\), each of which has at least one eventually positive solution in \({\mathbb{R}}^ n.\) For ordinary differential equations of order 2m, \textit{W. T. Reid} [Trans. Am. Math. Soc. 101, 91-106 (1961; Zbl 0114.292)] defined two types of right first conjugate point (which we will denote in this abstract by \(\eta_ 1(p)\) and \(\theta_ 1(p)\), respectively), and he asked for what classes of equations the functions \(\eta_ 1\) and \(\theta_ 1\) are equal. In the present paper, sufficient conditions are given which guarantee that \(\eta_ 1(p)=\theta_ 1(p)<+\infty\) for all p. Furthermore, a family of equations is constructed, for which \(\eta_ 1(p)<+\infty\) but \(\theta_ 1(p)=+\infty\).