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Take $A>0$ and use primes for spatial derivatives. Two integration by parts operations in the first variation of the elastic filament's bending energy giveThus the Euler-Lagrange equation is $A{h}^{\prime \prime \prime \prime }=0$, and the fluctuation differential operator is $K=A{d}^4/d{x}^4$. In the L2 space inner product, its boundary form isThe conjugate endpoint trace pairs are $(h,h^{\prime \prime \prime })$ and $(h^{\prime },h^{\prime \prime })$. Requiring one member of each pair to vanish gives the four standard self-adjoint endpoint conditions for filament bending, applied at both ends:

Each pair annihilates the boundary form for all $u,v$ in the domain. Conversely, the remaining two endpoint traces can be chosen freely: requiring the boundary form to vanish against every such $u$ forces an adjoint-domain function $v$ to satisfy the same two conditions. This proves self-adjointness, rather than just formal symmetry, on the corresponding fourth-order Sobolev space domain.

The count four concerns these elementary homogeneous choices. Identical-end boundary conditions do not restrict all self-adjoint operators to these four possibilities. For example, $h=0$, $h^{\prime \prime }=b{h}^{\prime }$ at both ends, with any fixed real $b\ne 0$, also annihilates the boundary form: the remaining expression is $-\overline{u^{\prime }}b{v}^{\prime }+b\overline{u^{\prime }}{v}^{\prime }=0$. This Robin boundary condition supplies a continuous family beyond the four listed pairs.

For spatially varying tension in filament bending, keep the derivative of the filament tension as well as the curvature term. The first variation isTherefore the Euler-Lagrange equation and fluctuation operator areFor real, sufficiently smooth $\sigma$, the boundary form is the bending boundary form minus $[\sigma (\overline{u}{v}^{\prime }-\overline{u^{\prime }}v){]}_0^L$. Because $\sigma$ vanishes at both ends, the four self-adjoint endpoint conditions for filament bending still apply. The natural endpoint force also reduces there to the bending shear term. Thus $K_{\sigma }$ is a self-adjoint fourth-order scalar differential operator on the same chosen domain, with compact resolvent.

Choose a real orthonormal basis ${\psi }_n$ of eigenfunctions, $K_{\sigma }{\psi }_n={\lambda }_n{\psi }_n$, and write $h={\sum }_n{b}_n{\psi }_n$. Using the endpoint conditions in integration by parts givesThe equipartition theorem now gives, on the strictly positive subspace,This is a formal modal construction; no explicit eigenfunctions are needed. Nonnegative filament tension makes the energy nonnegative. Any surviving zero-energy filament modes must again be fixed. If signed $\sigma$ permits compression, self-adjointness still holds but does not guarantee a canonical ensemble: sufficiently strong compression can create negative eigenvalues and Euler buckling of an elastic filament. For instance, on $A=L=1$, take $\sigma =-Cx(1-x)$ and the clamped trial function $h=x^2(1-x{)}^2$. Thenso the energy is negative when $C>252$, despite $\sigma (0)=\sigma (1)=0$. The equipartition theorem requires a stable positive quadratic energy, not merely a real modal spectrum.

Adding $\frac{1}{2}\int \sigma (x)(h^{\prime }{)}^{2}dx$ to the quadratic bending energy of an elastic filament contributes $-(\sigma h^{\prime }{)}^{\prime }$ to its variational derivative. The endpoint term is $A{h}^{\prime \prime }{\eta }^{\prime }+(\sigma h^{\prime }-A{h}^{\prime \prime \prime })\eta$. If the real filament tension vanishes at both ends, the usual self-adjoint endpoint conditions for filament bending remain valid. A complete eigenfunction expansion diagonalizes the energy even when the eigenfunctions have no explicit formula. Thermal equipartition theorem arguments require positive eigenvalues after fixing any kernel; strong compression can violate this requirement.