Provides a common setting for various methods of bounding the eigenvalues of a self-adjoint linear operator and emphasizes their relationships. A mapping principle is presented to connect many of the methods. The eigenvalue problems studied are linear, and linearization is shown to give important information about nonlinear problems. Linear vector spaces and their properties are used to uniformly describe the eigenvalue problems presented that involve matrices, ordinary or partial differential operators, and integro-differential operators.

Provides a common setting for various methods of bounding the eigenvalues of a self-adjoint linear operator and emphasizes their relationships.

The asymptotic distribution of eigenvalues of self-adjoint differential operators in the high-energy limit, or the semi-classical limit, is a classical subject going back to H. Weyl of more than a century ago. In the last decades there has been a renewed interest in non-self-adjoint differential operators which have many subtle properties such as instability under small perturbations. Quite remarkably, when adding small random perturbations to such operators, the eigenvalues tend to distribute according to Weyl's law (quite differently from the distribution for the unperturbed operators in analytic cases). A first result in this direction was obtained by M. Hager in her thesis of 2005. Since then, further general results have been obtained, which are the main subject of the present book. Additional themes from the theory of non-self-adjoint operators are also treated. The methods are very much based on microlocal analysis and especially on pseudodifferential operators. The reader will find a broad field with plenty of open problems.

This monograph provides a comprehensive treatment of expansion theorems for regular systems of first order differential equations and n-th order ordinary differential equations.In 10 chapters and one appendix, it provides a comprehensive treatment from abstract foundations to applications in physics and engineering. The focus is on non-self-adjoint problems. Bounded operators are associated to these problems, and Chapter 1 provides an in depth investigation of eigenfunctions and associated functions for bounded Fredholm valued operators in Banach spaces. Since every n-th order differential equation is equivalentto a first order system, the main techniques are developed for systems. Asymptotic fundamentalsystems are derived for a large class of systems of differential equations. Together with boundaryconditions, which may depend polynomially on the eigenvalue parameter, this leads to the definition of Birkhoff and Stone regular eigenvalue problems. An effort is made to make the conditions relatively easy verifiable; this is illustrated with several applications in chapter 10.The contour integral method and estimates of the resolvent are used to prove expansion theorems.For Stone regular problems, not all functions are expandable, and again relatively easy verifiableconditions are given, in terms of auxiliary boundary conditions, for functions to be expandable.Chapter 10 deals exclusively with applications; in nine sections, various concrete problems such asthe Orr-Sommerfeld equation, control of multiple beams, and an example from meteorology are investigated.Key features:• Expansion Theorems for Ordinary Differential Equations • Discusses Applications to Problems from Physics and Engineering • Thorough Investigation of Asymptotic Fundamental Matrices and Systems • Provides a Comprehensive Treatment • Uses the Contour Integral Method • Represents the Problems as Bounded Operators • Investigates Canonical Systems of Eigen- and Associated Vectors for Operator Functions