Elliptic boundary value problems for Bessel operators, with applications to anti-de Sitter spacetimes

This paper considers boundary value problems for a class of singular elliptic operators that appear naturally in the study of asymptotically anti-de Sitter (aAdS) spacetimes. These problems involve a singular Bessel operator acting in the normal direction. After formulating a Lopatinskii condition, elliptic estimates are established for functions supported near the boundary. The Fredholm property follows from additional hypotheses in the interior. This paper provides a rigorous framework for mode analysis on aAdS spacetimes for a wide range of boundary conditions considered in the physics literature. Completeness of eigenfunctions for some Bessel operator pencils is shown. (C) 2018 Academie des sciences. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.