Past exam of the mathematics course of the year 2 of the natural sciences course of the University of Cambridge / 2018 / Paper 2 / 1 / a / Solution

Seek a positive weight such that the differential operator becomes $-w^{-1}(p{y}^{\prime }{)}^{\prime }$. Matching the second derivative gives $p=w(1-x^2)$, while matching the first derivative requires $p^{\prime }=-xw$. ConsequentlyChoosing the multiplicative constant to be one givesThis is Sturm-Liouville form with zero potential term. Multiply the equations for $y_n,y_m$ by $y_m,y_n$, subtract, and integrate. The Lagrange identity for a Sturm-Liouville operator givesThe boundary expression vanishes because $p\to 0$ and the functions and their derivatives are finite. Since $n,m\ge 0$ are distinct, their eigenvalues $n^2,m^2$ are distinct, provingThe endpoint singularities of the weight are integrable, so these weighted inner products exist.