Disconjugacy

2020 Mathematics Subject Classification: Primary: 34L [MSN][ZBL]

An $n$ th order homogeneous linear differential operator (equation)

$$\tag{a1 } Ly \equiv y ^ {( n ) } + p _ {1} ( x ) y ^ {( n - 1 ) } + \dots + p _ {n} ( x ) y = 0$$

is called disconjugate on an interval $I$ if no non-trivial solution has $n$ zeros on $I$, multiple zeros being counted according to their multiplicity. (In the Russian literature this is called non-oscillation on $I$; cf. also Oscillating solution; Oscillating differential equation.) If (a1) has a solution with $n$ zeros on an interval, then the infimum of all values $c$, $c > a$, such that some solution has $n$ zeros on $[ a,c ]$ is called the conjugate point of $a$ and is denoted by $\eta ( a )$. This infimum is achieved by a solution which has a total of at least $n$ zeros at $a$ and $\eta ( a )$ and is positive on $( a, \eta ( a ) )$. If the equation has continuous coefficients, the conjugate point $\eta ( a )$ is a strictly increasing, continuous function of $a$. The adjoint equation has the same conjugate point as (a1). For general properties, see [a1], [a7].

There are numerous explicit sufficient criteria for the equation (a1) to be disconjugate. Many of them are of the form

$$\sum ^ {n _ {k} = 1 } c _ {k} ( b - a ) ^ {k} \left \| {p _ {k} } \right \| < 1,$$

where $\| {p _ {k} } \|$ is some norm of $p _ {k}$, $I = [ a,b ]$ and $c _ {k}$ are suitable constants. These are "smallness conditions" which express the proximity of (a1) to the disconjugate equation $y ^ {( n ) } = 0$. See [a12].

$L$ is disconjugate on $[ a,b ]$ if and only if it has there the Pólya factorization

$$Ly \equiv \rho _ {n} { \frac{d}{dx } } \left ( \rho _ {n - 1 } \dots { \frac{d}{dx } } \left ( \rho _ {1} { \frac{d}{dx } } ( \rho _ {0} y ) \right ) \dots \right ) , \rho _ {i} > 0,$$

or the equivalent Mammana factorization

$$Ly = \left ( { \frac{d}{dx } } + r _ {n} \right ) \dots \left ( { \frac{d}{dx } } + r _ {1} \right ) y.$$

Among the various Pólya factorizations, the most important is the Trench canonical form [a11]: If $L$ is disconjugate on $( a,b )$, $b \leq \infty$, then there is essentially one factorization such that $\int ^ {b} {\rho _ {i} ^ {- 1 } } = \infty$, $i = 1 \dots n - 1$.

Disconjugacy is closely related to solvability of the de la Vallée-Poussin multiple-point problem $Ly = g$, $y ^ {( i ) } ( x _ {j} ) = a _ {ij }$, $i = 0 \dots r _ {j} - 1$, $\sum _ {1} ^ {m} r _ {j} = n$. The Green's function of a disconjugate operator $L$ and the related homogeneous boundary value problem satisfies

$${ \frac{G ( x,t ) }{( x - x _ {1} ) ^ {r _ {1} } \dots ( x - x _ {m} ) ^ {r _ {m} } } } > 0$$

for $x _ {1} \leq x \leq x _ {m}$, $x _ {1} < t < x _ {m}$[a7]. Another interesting boundary value problem is the focal boundary value problem $y ^ {( i ) } ( x _ {j} ) = 0$, $i = r _ {j - 1 } \dots r _ {j} - 1$, $j = 1 \dots m$, $0 = r _ {0} < r _ {1} < \dots < r _ {m} = n - 1$.

For a second-order equation, the Sturm separation theorem (cf. Sturm theorem) yields that non-oscillation (i.e., no solution has a sequence of zeros converging to $+ \infty$) implies that there exists a point $a$ such that (a1) is disconjugate on $[ a, \infty )$. For equations of order $n > 2$ this conclusion holds for a class of equations [a2] but not for all equations [a4].

Particular results about disconjugacy exist for various special types of differential equations.

1) The Sturm–Liouville operator (cf. Sturm–Liouville equation)

$$\tag{a2 } ( p y ^ \prime ) ^ \prime + q y = 0, p > 0,$$

has been studied using the Sturm (and Sturm–Picone) comparison theorem, the Prüfer transformation and the Riccati equation $z ^ \prime + q + { {z ^ {2} } / p } = 0$. It is also closely related to the positive definiteness of the quadratic functional $\int _ {a} ^ {b} {( p y ^ {\prime 2 } - q y ^ {2} ) }$. See [a10], [a1], [a5]. For example, (a2) is disconjugate on $[ a,b ]$ if $\int _ {a} ^ {b} {p ^ {- 1 } } \times \int _ {a} ^ {b} {| q | } < 4$.

2) Third-order equations are studied in [a3].

3) For a self-adjoint differential equation $\sum _ {i = 0 } ^ {m} ( p _ {m - i } y ^ {( i ) } ) ^ {( i ) } = 0$, the existence of a solution with two zeros of multiplicity $m$ has been studied. Their absence is called $( m,m )$- disconjugacy.

4) Disconjugacy of the analytic equation $w ^ \prime + p ( z ) w = 0$ in a complex domain is connected to the theory of univalent functions. See [a8], [a5] and Univalent function.

5) Many particularly elegant result are available for two-term equations $y ^ {( n ) } + p ( x ) y = 0$ and their generalizations $Ly + p ( x ) y = 0$[a6], [a2].

Disconjugacy has also been studied for certain second-order linear differential systems of higher dimension [a1], [a9]. In the historical prologue of [a9], the connection to the calculus of variations (cf. also Variational calculus) is explained. The concepts of disconjugacy and oscillation have also been generalized to non-linear differential equations and functional-differential equations.

References

[a1]	W.A. Coppel, "Disconjugacy" , Lecture Notes in Mathematics , 220 , Springer (1971)
[a2]	U. Elias, "Oscillation theory of two-term differential equations" , Kluwer Acad. Publ. (1997)
[a3]	M. Gregus, "Third order linear differential equations" , Reidel (1987)
[a4]	Gustafson, G. B., "The nonequivalence of oscillation and nondisconjugacy" Proc. Amer. Math. Soc. , 25 (1970) pp. 254–260
[a5]	E. Hille, "Lectures on ordinary differential equations" , Addison-Wesley (1968)
[a6]	I.T. Kiguradze, T.A. Chanturia, "Asymptotic properties of solutions of nonautonomous ordinary differential equations" , Kluwer Acad. Publ. (1993) (In Russian)
[a7]	A.Yu. Levin, "Non-oscillation of solutions of the equation $x ^ { ( n ) } + p _ { 1 } ( t ) x ^ { ( n - 1 ) } + \ldots + p _ { n } ( t ) x = 0$" Russian Math. Surveys , 24 (1969) pp. 43–99 (In Russian)
[a8]	Z. Nehari, "The Schwarzian derivative and schlicht functions" Bull. Amer. Math. Soc. , 55 (1949) pp. 545–551
[a9]	W.T. Reid, "Sturmian theory for ordinary differential equations" , Springer (1980)
[a10]	C.A. Swanson, "Comparison and oscillatory theory of linear differential equations" , Acad. Press (1968)
[a11]	W.F. Trench, "Canonical forms and principal systems for general disconjugate equation" Trans. Amer. Math. Soc. , 189 (1974) pp. 319–327
[a12]	D. Willet, "Generalized de la Vallée Poussin disconjugacy tests for linear differential equations" Canadian Math. Bull. , 14 (1971) pp. 419–428