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

This updated revision gives a complete and topical overview on Nonconservative Stability which is essential for many areas of science and technology ranging from particles trapping in optical tweezers and dynamics of subcellular structures to dissipative and radiative instabilities in fluid mechanics, astrophysics and celestial mechanics. The author presents relevant mathematical concepts as well as rigorous stability results and numerous classical and contemporary examples from non-conservative mechanics and non-Hermitian physics. New coverage of ponderomotive magnetism, experimental detection of Ziegler’s destabilization phenomenon and theory of double-diffusive instabilities in magnetohydrodynamics.

The theoretical part of this monograph examines the distribution of the spectrum of operator polynomials, focusing on quadratic operator polynomials with discrete spectra. The second part is devoted to applications. Standard spectral problems in Hilbert spaces are of the form A-λI for an operator A, and self-adjoint operators are of particular interest and importance, both theoretically and in terms of applications. A characteristic feature of self-adjoint operators is that their spectra are real, and many spectral problems in theoretical physics and engineering can be described by using them. However, a large class of problems, in particular vibration problems with boundary conditions depending on the spectral parameter, are represented by operator polynomials that are quadratic in the eigenvalue parameter and whose coefficients are self-adjoint operators. The spectra of such operator polynomials are in general no more real, but still exhibit certain patterns. The distribution of these spectra is the main focus of the present volume. For some classes of quadratic operator polynomials, inverse problems are also considered. The connection between the spectra of such quadratic operator polynomials and generalized Hermite-Biehler functions is discussed in detail. Many applications are thoroughly investigated, such as the Regge problem and damped vibrations of smooth strings, Stieltjes strings, beams, star graphs of strings and quantum graphs. Some chapters summarize advanced background material, which is supplemented with detailed proofs. With regard to the reader’s background knowledge, only the basic properties of operators in Hilbert spaces and well-known results from complex analysis are assumed.

In the last decades, various mathematical problems have been solved by computer-assisted proofs, among them the Kepler conjecture, the existence of chaos, the existence of the Lorenz attractor, the famous four-color problem, and more. In many cases, computer-assisted proofs have the remarkable advantage (compared with a “theoretical” proof) of additionally providing accurate quantitative information. The authors have been working more than a quarter century to establish methods for the verified computation of solutions for partial differential equations, mainly for nonlinear elliptic problems of the form -∆u=f(x,u,∇u) with Dirichlet boundary conditions. Here, by “verified computation” is meant a computer-assisted numerical approach for proving the existence of a solution in a close and explicit neighborhood of an approximate solution. The quantitative information provided by these techniques is also significant from the viewpoint of a posteriori error estimates for approximate solutions of the concerned partial differential equations in a mathematically rigorous sense. In this monograph, the authors give a detailed description of the verified computations and computer-assisted proofs for partial differential equations that they developed. In Part I, the methods mainly studied by the authors Nakao and Watanabe are presented. These methods are based on a finite dimensional projection and constructive a priori error estimates for finite element approximations of the Poisson equation. In Part II, the computer-assisted approaches via eigenvalue bounds developed by the author Plum are explained in detail. The main task of this method consists of establishing eigenvalue bounds for the linearization of the corresponding nonlinear problem at the computed approximate solution. Some brief remarks on other approaches are also given in Part III. Each method in Parts I and II is accompanied by appropriate numerical examples that confirm the actual usefulness of the authors’ methods. Also in some examples practical computer algorithms are supplied so that readers can easily implement the verification programs by themselves.

- Detailed bibliographical comments and some open questions are given after each chapter - Indicates connections between the content of the book and many other topics in mathematics and physics - Open questions are formulated and commented with the intention to attract attention of young mathematicians

This book, which is a new edition of a book originally published in 1965, presents an introduction to the theory of higher-order elliptic boundary value problems. The book contains a detailed study of basic problems of the theory, such as the problem of existence and regularity of solutions of higher-order elliptic boundary value problems. It also contains a study of spectral properties of operators associated with elliptic boundary value problems. Weyl's law on the asymptotic distribution of eigenvalues is studied in great generality.

This book presents a survey of analytical, asymptotic, numerical, and combined methods of solving eigenvalue problems. It considers the new method of accelerated convergence for solving problems of the Sturm-Liouville type as well as boundary-value problems with boundary conditions of the first, second, and third kind. The authors also present high