Bounds on the non-real spectrum of differential operators with indefinite weights

Abstract

Ordinary and partial differential operators with an indefinite weight function can be viewed as bounded perturbations of non-negative operators in Krein spaces. Under the assumption that 0 and $$\infty $$ are not singular critical points of the unperturbed operator it is shown that a bounded additive perturbation leads to an operator whose non-real spectrum is contained in a compact set and with definite type real spectrum outside this set. The main results are quantitative estimates for this set, which are applied to Sturm–Liouville and second order elliptic partial differential operators with indefinite weights on unbounded domains.