This book develops a detailed theory of a generalized Sturm-Liouville
Equation, which includes conditions of solvability, classes of
uniqueness, positivity properties of solutions and Green's functions,
asymptotic properties of solutions at infinity. Of independent interest,
the higher-order Sturm-Liouville equation also proved to have important
applications to differential equations with operator coefficients and
elliptic boundary value problems for domains with non-smooth boundaries.
The book addresses graduate students and researchers in ordinary and
partial differential equations, and is accessible with a standard
undergraduate course in real analysis.