Global Properties of Linear Ordinary Differential Equations

This volume presents an unified overview of the methods and results concerning the global properties of linear differential equations of order n (n>2). It does not, however, seek to be comnprehensive. Rather, it contains a selection of results which richly illustrate the unified approach presented. By making use of recent methods and results from many different areas of mathematics and by introducing several original methods, global solutions of problems previously studied only locally are given. The structure of global transformations is described algebraically and a new geometrical approach is introduced which leads to global canonical forms suitable for Cartan's moving frame-of-reference method. The theory discussed also provides effective tools for solving some open problems, especially relating to the distribution of zeros of solutions. In addition, the theory of functional equations plays an important role in studying the asymptotic behaviour of solutions. Applications to differential geometry and functional equations are also described. The volume is largely self-contained.