2012/05/21 by David A. Smith, Smith, David Andrew, Beatrice Pelloni +1
Computer Science · Mathematics · Physics and Astronomy · #35P10 #Advanced Mathematical Modeling in Engineering #Analysis of PDEs (math.AP) #Differential Equations and Numerical Methods #FOS: Mathematics #Nonlinear Waves and Solitons #Spectral Theory (math.SP)
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1205.4567
openalex publication_date 2012/05/21 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
We give a characterisation of the spectral properties of linear differential operators with constant coefficients, acting on functions defined on a bounded interval, and determined by general linear boundary conditions. The boundary conditions may be such that the resulting operator is not selfadjoint. We associate the spectral properties of such an operator S with the properties of the solution of a corresponding boundary value problem for the partial differential equation ∂t q ± iSq=0. Namely, we are able to establish an explicit correspondence between the properties of the family of eigenfunctions of the operator, and in particular whether this family is a basis, and the existence and properties of the unique solution of the associated boundary value problem. When such a unique solution exists, we consider its representation as a complex contour integral that is obtained using a transform method recently proposed by Fokas and one of the authors. The analyticity properties of the integrand in this representation are crucial for studying the spectral theory of the associated operator.