Degenerate ordinary differential equation

A degenerate ordinary differential equation has a highest-derivative coefficient that vanishes somewhere in its domain. Its solutions can have lower regularity at that point than in the interior. A boundary value problem normally imposes endpoint values by continuous extension while requiring the differential equation in the interior. Requiring it pointwise at a degenerate endpoint with all derivatives finite can impose an extra condition and destroy existence. In a square-root-degenerate endpoint layer, the product of a vanishing square-root coefficient with a diverging second derivative has a finite nonzero interior limit.

An equation $a(x)y^{\prime \prime }+b(x)y^{\prime }+c(x)y=0$ can remain meaningful at a zero of $a$ even though its normalized second-order linear differential equation has singular coefficients. A global continuation problem must specify its solution regularity. Across a point where a homogeneous solution vanishes to second order, its coefficient may change in a piecewise $C^1$ continuation; requiring continuity of the second derivative can eliminate that freedom. The usual continuous-coefficient uniqueness theorem for ordinary differential equations cannot simply be applied across such a point.