A Sturm-Liouville problem with challenging eigenvalues

This is essentially problem #3 on page 178.

Consider the SLP

$$-y''=\lambda y, \: y(0)+y'(0)=0, y(1) = 0.$$

Find an equation to describe the the eigenvalues. Use this to graphically explain why there are infinitely many and discuss their rate of growth.

Comments

  • AbSAbS
    edited March 2021

    Solving the differential equation $y'' = -\lambda y$,

    $$y = a\cos\left(\sqrt{\lambda}x\right) + b\sin\left(\sqrt{\lambda}x\right)$$

    and

    $$y' = -a\sqrt{\lambda}\sin\left(\sqrt{\lambda}x\right) + b\sqrt{\lambda}\cos\left(\sqrt{\lambda}x\right).$$

    From our initial conditions,

    $$y(0) + y'(0) = a + b\sqrt{\lambda} = 0,$$

    so

    $$a = -b\sqrt{\lambda}.$$

    We also know

    $$y(1) = a\cos\left(\sqrt{\lambda}\right) + b\sin\left(\sqrt{\lambda}\right) = -b\sqrt{\lambda}\cos\left(\sqrt{\lambda}\right) + b\sin\left(\sqrt{\lambda}\right) = 0$$

    $$=> b\sqrt{\lambda}\cos\left(\sqrt{\lambda}\right) = b\sin\left(\sqrt{\lambda}\right),$$

    so

    $$\sqrt{\lambda} = \tan\left(\sqrt{\lambda}\right).$$

    Hence, our eigenvalues are the points where $\sqrt{\lambda}$ and $\tan\left(\sqrt{\lambda}\right)$ intersect. By graphing these functions, one can see that there are infinitely many such intersections. One can also observe that the distance between each intersection grows as $\lambda$ increases, so $\lambda_{n+1} - \lambda_n$ increases with $n.$

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