Spectral problems on open-book structures with singularly perturbed density: the limit operator

Abstract

We investigate the spectral problem arising in the asymptotic analysis of vibrations of open-book structures with a mass density perturbed near the binding. The limiting problem is go\-ver\-ned by a non-self-adjoint block operator matrix coupling the macroscopic and microscopic components of the model. We describe the spectrum of this operator and completely characterize its eigenspaces and root subspaces. We further prove that generalized eigenvectors form chains of length at most two and derive an explicit criterion for the existence and number of Jordan blocks. This model provides a nontrivial example of a family of self-adjoint operators acting in varying Hilbert spaces whose limiting spectral behavior is described by a non-self-adjoint operator with a genuine Jordan structure.