Sturmian and spectral theory for discrete symplectic systems

Abstract

We consider 2 n × 2 n 2n\times 2n symplectic difference systems together with associated discrete quadratic functionals and eigenvalue problems. We establish Sturmian type comparison theorems for the numbers of focal points of conjoined bases of a pair of symplectic systems. Then, using this comparison result, we show that the numbers of focal points of two conjoined bases of one symplectic system differ by at most n n . In the last part of the paper we prove the Rayleigh principle for symplectic eigenvalue problems and we show that finite eigenvectors of such eigenvalue problems form a complete orthogonal basis in the space of admissible sequences.