The inverse spectral problem for indefinite strings

Inverse problems involving ordinary differential equations (34A55) Linear boundary value problems for ordinary differential equations with nonlinear dependence on the spectral parameter (34B07) Weyl theory and its generalizations for ordinary differential equations (34B20) General theory of ordinary differential operators (47E05)

Abstract: Motivated by the study of certain nonlinear wave equations (in particular, the Camassa-Holm equation), we introduce a new class of generalized indefinite strings associated with differential equations of the form [-u"=z,u,omega+z^2u,upsilon] on an interval

[0, L)

, where

o m e g a

is a real-valued distribution in

H_{m a t h r m l o c}^{- 1} [0, L)

,

u p s i l o n

is a non-negative Borel measure on

[0, L)

and

z

is a complex spectral parameter. Apart from developing basic spectral theory for these kinds of spectral problems, our main result is an indefinite analogue of M. G. Krein's celebrated solution of the inverse spectral problem for inhomogeneous vibrating strings.

Review text

A famous result in inverse spectral theory going back to M. G. Krein is the observation of the one-to-one mapping between the set of all vibrating strings and the class of Stieltjes functions by means of the Weyl-Titchmarsh function \(m\) associated with the string. In the present terminology the behavior of the string is characterized by the eigenvalue equation \[ -u = z \, u \, \omega \quad \text{on } [0,L) \] subject to certain boundary conditions, where \(\omega\) is a non-negative Borel measure on \([0,L)\) (the mass distribution of the string). Since the 1970s a number of approaches to indefinite generalizations was presented, so far allowing only settings with finitely many ``negative masses. It was already observed that in order to cover a suitable class of functions \(m\) the eigenvalue equation must be generalized to \[ -u = z \, u \, \omega + z^2 u \, \nu \] with a non-negative Borel measure \(\nu\). The present paper seems to present the first completely indefinite approach allowing an arbitrary real-valued distribution \(\omega \in H^{-1}_{\mathrm{loc}}[0,L)\) (including signed measures). Then, using a left-definite framework the indefinite string given by \((L, \omega, \nu)\) is realized by a self-adjoint relation in a Hilbert space and an associated Weyl-Titchmarsh function \(m\) is constructed belonging to the class of Herglotz-Nevanlinna functions. The main result of the paper states that the mapping \((L, \omega, \nu) \rightarrow m\) defines a bijection between the set of all ``indefinite strings and this class. The essential tool for the proof is an inverse result of de Branges for Hamiltonian systems. The paper is accomplished by a continuity result for the mapping \((L, \omega, \nu) \rightarrow m\). Finally, Krein's classical result is embedded in the present theory.

Recommendations

Cites work

Cited in

(40)

This page was built for publication: The inverse spectral problem for indefinite strings

Report a bug (only for logged in users!)Click here to report a bug for this page (MaRDI item Q295806)