On the deficiency index of the vector-valued Sturm–Liouville operator

Abstract

Let R₊:= [0, +∞), and let the matrix functions P, Q, and R of order n, n ∈ N, defined on the semiaxis R₊ be such that P(x) is a nondegenerate matrix, P(x) and Q(x) are Hermitian matrices for x ∈ R₊ and the elements of the matrix functions P⁻¹, Q, and R are measurable on R₊ and summable on each of its closed finite subintervals. We study the operators generated in the space L_n²(R₊) by formal expressions of the form l[f] = −(P(f' − Rf))' − R*P(f' − Rf) + Qf and, as a particular case, operators generated by expressions of the form l[f] = −(P₀f')' + i((Q₀f)' + Q₀f') + P'₁f, where everywhere the derivatives are understood in the sense of distributions and P₀, Q₀, and P₁ are Hermitianmatrix functions of order n with Lebesgue measurable elements such that P₀⁻¹ exists and ǁP0ǁ, ǁP₀⁻¹ǁ, ǁP₀⁻¹ǁǁP₁ǁ², ǁP₀⁻¹ǁǁQ₀ǁ² ∈ L_loc¹(R₊). Themain goal in this paper is to study of the deficiency index of the minimal operator L₀ generated by expression l[f] in L_n²(R₊) in terms of the matrix functions P, Q, and R (P₀, Q₀, and P₁). The obtained results are applied to differential operators generated by expressions of the form \(l[f] = - f'' + \sum\limits_{k = 1}^{ + \infty } {{H_k}} \delta \left( {x - {x_k}} \right)f\), where x_k, k = 1, 2,..., is an increasing sequence of positive numbers, with lim_k→+∞x_k = +∞, H_k is a number Hermitian matrix of order n, and δ(x) is the Dirac δ-function.