On the eigenvalues of a nonlinear spectral problem

Abstract

We consider a nonlinear eigenvalue problem of the Sturm–Liouville type with conditions of the third kind, which describes the propagation of polarized electromagnetic waves in a plane dielectric waveguide. The equation is nonlinear in the unknown function, and the boundary conditions depend on the spectral parameter nonlinearly. We obtain an equation for the spectral parameter and formulas for the zeros of the eigenfunctions and show that the problem has at most finitely many isolated eigenvalues.