Green's functions for k-point focal boundary value problems (Q919158)

The Green's function G(x,t) for the k-point right focal BVP \[ y^{(n)}=0,\quad y^{(i)}(x_ r)=0,\quad i=s(r-1),...,s(r)-1,\quad r=1,...,k \] is explicitly obtained, where \(s(0)=0\), \(s(r)=n(1)+...+n(r)\), n(1),...,n(k) are arbitrary but fixed positive integers satisfying \(n(1)+...+n(k)=n\) and \(1<k\leq n\) is fixed. The bounds of G(x,t) and its partial derivatives with respect to x are obtained in the form of Beesack inequalities for the (n(1),...,n(k)) conjugate BVP. It is also shown that for \(i=s(r-1),...,s(r)-1\), \((-1)^{n- s(r)}G^{(i)}(x,t)\) is positive semidefinite on the x-t strip \([x_ r,x_{r+1}]\times [x_ 1,x_ n]\), \(r=1,...,k-1\). This need not hold if \(i>s(r)-1\) or \(i<s(r-1)\).