# 11: Boundary Value Problems and Fourier Expansions


In this chapter we develop series representations of functions that will be used to solve partial differential equations in Chapter 12.

• 11.1: Eigenvalue Problems for y'' + λy = 0
This section deals with five boundary value problems for the differential equation y'' + λy = 0. They are related to problems in partial differential equations that will be discussed in Chapter 12. We define what is meant by eigenvalues and eigenfunctions of the boundary value problems, and show that the eigenfunctions have a property called orthogonality.
• 11.2: Fourier Series I
Previously, we saw that the eigenfunctions of a specific type of differential equation are orthogonal. In this section and the next we introduce some series expansions in terms of these eigenfunctions. We’ll use these expansions to solve partial differential equationsThis section introduces Fourier series, which are expansions of given functions in term of sines and cosines.
• 11.3: Fourier Series II
This section deals with expansions of functions in terms of the eigenfunctions of four of the eigenvalue problems discussed in Section 11.1. They are all related to the Fourier series discussed in Section 11.2.

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