Theory of a Higher-Order Sturm-Liouville Equation (Lecture Notes in Mathematics, 1659)

This book develops a detailed theory of a generalized Sturm-Liouville Equation, which includes conditions of solvability, classes of uniqueness, positivity properties of solutions and Green's functions, asymptotic properties of solutions at infinity. Of independent interest, the higher-order Sturm-Liouville equation also proved to have important applications to differential equations with operator coefficients and elliptic boundary value problems for domains with non-smooth boundaries. The book addresses graduate students and researchers in ordinary and partial differential equations, and is accessible with a standard undergraduate course in real analysis.