 Solution

Expanding the matrix determinant from part (b) givesThe finite-interval Airy spectral determinant obeys $\Delta (\alpha k)={\alpha }^2\Delta (k)$. At the origin,This zero comes from coalescence of the three rotated equations; it is removable in the underlying boundary system. Indeed, $v^{\prime \prime \prime }=0$ with $v(0)=v(L)=v^{\prime }(L)=0$ has only the zero quadratic solution.

For $k\ne 0$, a zero of $\Delta$ is equivalent to the existence of a nonzero combination $v(x)={\sum }_{j=0}^2{c}_j{e}^{i{\alpha }^{j}kx}$ satisfying the homogeneous endpoint conditions. This can be checked by expanding the determinant of those three endpoint equations. Such a function satisfies $v^{\prime \prime \prime }=\omega (k)v$, so it is an eigenfunction of $A$ with eigenvalue $-\omega (k)$. Integration by parts yieldsso every nonzero zero has $\mathrm{Re}\omega (k)\ge 0$. None lies on the boundary $\mathrm{Re}\omega =0$: by a cube-root rotation it suffices to take $K=kL$ real. With $u=\sqrt{3}K/2$, the determinant equation becomesThe right-hand side has squared modulus $1+4{\sinh }^{2}u>1$ for $K\ne 0$, whereas the left-hand side has modulus one. Therefore there are no nonremovable spectral poles in $\overline{D}$, and the contour representation has no discrete residue contribution from that domain.

Taken literally as a claim about the operator's discrete spectrum, however, the printed assertion is false. To see this constructively, put $k=-is/L$, $s>0$. ThenThus zeros occur whenBetween successive positive cosine maxima and adjacent negative minima the difference changes sign. There are consequently infinitely many positive roots, producing genuine negative eigenvalues $-s^3/L^3$ of $A$. The third-order resolvent maps into $H^3(0,L)$, whose inclusion into $L^2(0,L)$ is compact, so these are indeed discrete spectrum of an operator with compact resolvent. The valid conclusion is absence of poles in the reconstruction sectors, not absence of operator eigenvalues.