On the equivalence of matrix differential operators to schrödinger form

Abstract

We prove a generalization to the case of s × s matrix linear differential operators of the classical theorem of E. Cotton giving necessary and sufficient conditions for equivalence of eigenvalue problems for scalar linear differential operators. The conditions for equivalence to a matrix Schrödinger operator are derived and formulated geometrically in terms of vanishing conditions on the curvature of a gl(s, R)-valued connection. These conditions are illustrated on a class of matrix differential operators of physical interest, arising by symmetry reduction from Dirac’s equation for a spinor field minimally coupled with a cylindrically symmetric magnetic field. © 1997 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.