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Transformations of second order ordinary and partial difierential operators

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 November 2011

Calvin D. Ahlbrandt
Affiliation:
Department of Mathematics, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri 65211, U.S.A.
Don B. Hinton
Affiliation:
Department of Mathematics, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37916, U.S.A.
Roger T. Lewis
Affiliation:
Department of Mathematics, University of Alabama in Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama 35294, U.S.A.

Synopsis

Liouville type transformations are given for symmetric linear ordinary and partial differential operators of second order. Explicit formulas are given for the coefficients of the transformed operators. As a corollary to the general theory we obtain an “Atkinson form” for certain first order vector partial differential operators. This leads to a generalization of the concept of “g-unitary” transformations. Applications to oscillation and spectral theories are included.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Society of Edinburgh 1982

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