Past exam of the mathematics course of the year 2 of the natural sciences course of the University of Cambridge / 2012 / Paper 2 / 1 / Solution

For real positive weight $w$, the weighted inner product isThe functions must have finite weighted norm; the conjugate is omitted for real functions. Multiplying the differential equation by $x{e}^{-x}$ givesThus the Sturm-Liouville form has $p=x{e}^{-x}$, $q=0$ and $w=e^{-x}$. With the positive-sign spectral convention defineThe existing Laguerre differential operator on polynomials uses the opposite operator $L=-\mathcal{A}$, with eigenvalues $-n$; keeping this sign convention explicit avoids confusing the two descriptions.

For admissible $f,g$, integration by parts givesThe boundary form must vanish for every pair in the self-adjoint domain. In the usual regular-at-zero Laguerre realization one imposes ${\lim }_{x\downarrow 0}x{e}^{-x}{y}^{\prime }=0$, excluding the logarithmic branch; at infinity one uses the weighted square-integrable domain with vanishing boundary form. A condition $y(\infty )=0$ would be inappropriate for polynomial eigenfunctions. For any pair of polynomials, the factor $x$ makes the boundary form zero at zero, while the exponential beats all polynomial growth at infinity. These functions also have finite weighted norms.

Self-adjointness yields $(n-m)⟨y_m,y_n{⟩}_w=0$, giving orthogonality of Sturm-Liouville eigenfunctions:For the specified polynomials, direct differentiation gives $\mathcal{A}u=u$ and $\mathcal{A}v=3v$. Hence their eigenvalues in the displayed convention are 1 and 3, respectively, or −1 and −3 for $L=-\mathcal{A}$.

To find the quadratic, put $h=a{x}^2+bx+c$. The equation $x{h}^{\prime \prime }+(1-x)h^{\prime }+2h=0$ reduces to $(4a+b)x+(b+2c)=0$. Thus $b=-4a$, $c=2a$. Since $h(1)=-a=1$,These are scalar multiples of the Laguerre polynomials of degrees one, three and two.

For $n=0$, the first integral is $x{e}^{-x}{y}^{\prime }=C$, so all solutions with the prescribed interior normalization areTwo independent choices areThey both equal one at $x_0$, and their Wronskian is $e^x/x\ne 0$. For sufficiently large $x$, the last unit interval contributes at least $e^{x-1}/x$, proving that $y_2\to \infty$. These are the zero-eigenvalue solutions of the Laguerre differential equation, with the second expressible through the exponential integral. It also has a logarithmic singularity at zero and is not an admissible polynomial or weighted square-integrable eigenfunction. An interior value alone does not enforce the endpoint conditions of the spectral problem.