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          |  | Volume 4, Issue 3, Article 56 |  |   
          |  |  |  |  |  |  | Separation and Disconjugacy
 
 
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          |  |  | Authors: | Richard C. Brown, |  |   
          |  |  | Keywords: | Separation, Symmetric second order differential operator, Disconjugacy, Limit-point. |  |   
          |  |  | Date Received: | 21/11/02 |  |   
          |  |  | Date Accepted: | 25/03/03 |  |   
          |  |  | Subject Codes: | 26D10, 34C10,34L99, 47E05. |  |   
          |  |  | Editors: | A. M. Fink, |  |   
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          |  |  | Abstract: |  We show that certain properties of positive solutions of disconjugate second order differential expressions  ![$ M[y]=-(py^{prime})^{prime}+qy$](images/130_02_JIPAM/img1.gif) imply the separation of the minimal and maximal operators determined by  in  where  ,  , i.e., the property that ![$ % M[y]in L^2(I_a)Rightarrow qyin L^2(I_a)$](images/130_02_JIPAM/img6.gif) . This result will allow the development of several new sufficient conditions for separation and various inequalities associated with separation. Some of these allow for rapidly oscillating  . It is shown in particular that expressions  with  solutions are separated, a property leading to a new proof and generalization of a 1971 separation criterion due to Everitt and Giertz. A final result shows that the disconjugacy of  for some  implies the separation of  . |   
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