On the Frequency of Zeros of Solutions of Second Order Linear Differential Equations

Abstract

We consider the equation % MathType!MTEF!2!1!+-% feaaeaart1ev0aaatCvAUfeBSjuyZL2yd9gzLbvyNv2CaerbuLwBLn% hiov2DGi1BTfMBaeXanrfitLxBI9gBaerbd9wDYLwzYbItLDharqqt% ubsr4rNCHbGeaGqiVu0Je9sqqrpepC0xbbL8F4rqqrFfpeea0xe9Lq% -Jc9vqaqpepm0xbba9pwe9Q8fs0-yqaqpepae9pg0FirpepeKkFr0x% fr-xfr-xb9adbaqaaeGaciGaaiaabeqaamaabaabaaGcbaGaamyuam% aaBaaaleaacaaIXaGaaGimaaqabaGccqGH9aqpciGGSbGaaiOBaiaa% ysW7caWGRbWaaSbaaSqaaiaadsfacaaIXaaabeaakiaac+cacaWGRb% WaaSbaaSqaaiaadsfacaaIYaaabeaakiabg2da9iabgkHiTmaabmaa% baGaamyramaaBaaaleaacaWGHbaabeaakiaac+cacaWGsbaacaGLOa% GaayzkaaGaey41aq7aaiWaaeaadaqadaqaaiaadsfadaWgaaWcbaGa% aGOmaaqabaGccqGHsislcaWGubWaaSbaaSqaaiaaigdaaeqaaaGcca% GLOaGaayzkaaGaai4laiaacIcacaWGubWaaSbaaSqaaiaaikdaaeqa% aOGaaGjbVlaadsfadaWgaaWcbaGaamysaaqabaGccaGGPaaacaGL7b% GaayzFaaaaaa!5C4A! $\rm f^{\prime\prime}+{A}(z){f}=0$ with linearly independent solutions f1,2, where A(z) is a transcendental entire function of finite order. Conditions are given on A(z) which ensure that max{λ(f1),λ(f2)} = ∞, where λ(g) denotes the exponent of convergence of the zeros of g. We show as a special case of a further result that if P(z) is a non-constant, real, even polynomial with positive leading coefficient then every non-trivial solution of % MathType!MTEF!2!1!+-% feaaeaart1ev0aaatCvAUfeBSjuyZL2yd9gzLbvyNv2CaerbuLwBLn% hiov2DGi1BTfMBaeXanrfitLxBI9gBaerbd9wDYLwzYbItLDharqqt% ubsr4rNCHbGeaGqiVu0Je9sqqrpepC0xbbL8F4rqqrFfpeea0xe9Lq% -Jc9vqaqpepm0xbba9pwe9Q8fs0-yqaqpepae9pg0FirpepeKkFr0x% fr-xfr-xb9adbaqaaeGaciGaaiaabeqaamaabaabaaGcbaGaamyuam% aaBaaaleaacaaIXaGaaGimaaqabaGccqGH9aqpciGGSbGaaiOBaiaa% ysW7caWGRbWaaSbaaSqaaiaadsfacaaIXaaabeaakiaac+cacaWGRb% WaaSbaaSqaaiaadsfacaaIYaaabeaakiabg2da9iabgkHiTmaabmaa% baGaamyramaaBaaaleaacaWGHbaabeaakiaac+cacaWGsbaacaGLOa% GaayzkaaGaey41aq7aaiWaaeaadaqadaqaaiaadsfadaWgaaWcbaGa% aGOmaaqabaGccqGHsislcaWGubWaaSbaaSqaaiaaigdaaeqaaaGcca% GLOaGaayzkaaGaai4laiaacIcacaWGubWaaSbaaSqaaiaaikdaaeqa% aOGaaGjbVlaadsfadaWgaaWcbaGaamysaaqabaGccaGGPaaacaGL7b% GaayzFaaaaaa!5C4A! $\rm f^{\prime\prime}+{e}^P{f}=0$ satisfies λ(f) = ∞. Finally we consider the particular equation % MathType!MTEF!2!1!+-% feaaeaart1ev0aaatCvAUfeBSjuyZL2yd9gzLbvyNv2CaerbuLwBLn% hiov2DGi1BTfMBaeXanrfitLxBI9gBaerbd9wDYLwzYbItLDharqqt% ubsr4rNCHbGeaGqiVu0Je9sqqrpepC0xbbL8F4rqqrFfpeea0xe9Lq% -Jc9vqaqpepm0xbba9pwe9Q8fs0-yqaqpepae9pg0FirpepeKkFr0x% fr-xfr-xb9adbaqaaeGaciGaaiaabeqaamaabaabaaGcbaGaamyuam% aaBaaaleaacaaIXaGaaGimaaqabaGccqGH9aqpciGGSbGaaiOBaiaa% ysW7caWGRbWaaSbaaSqaaiaadsfacaaIXaaabeaakiaac+cacaWGRb% WaaSbaaSqaaiaadsfacaaIYaaabeaakiabg2da9iabgkHiTmaabmaa% baGaamyramaaBaaaleaacaWGHbaabeaakiaac+cacaWGsbaacaGLOa% GaayzkaaGaey41aq7aaiWaaeaadaqadaqaaiaadsfadaWgaaWcbaGa% aGOmaaqabaGccqGHsislcaWGubWaaSbaaSqaaiaaigdaaeqaaaGcca% GLOaGaayzkaaGaai4laiaacIcacaWGubWaaSbaaSqaaiaaikdaaeqa% aOGaaGjbVlaadsfadaWgaaWcbaGaamysaaqabaGccaGGPaaacaGL7b% GaayzFaaaaaa!5C4A! $\rm f^{\prime\prime}+({e}^Z-K){f}=0$ where K is a constant, which is of interest in that, depending on K, either every solution has λ(f) = ∞ or there exist two independent solutions f1, f2 each with λ(fi) ≤ 1.