Some Results on Ordinary Differential Operators with Periodic Coefficients

Abstract: For a general ordinary differential operator $\mathcal{L}$ with periodic coefficients we prove that the characteristic polynomial of the Floquet matrix is irreducible over the field of meromorphic functions. We also consider a multipoint eigenvalue problem and show that its eigenspaces are spanned by pure or generalized Floquet solutions. Finally, at the end of the paper we mention some relevant conjectures and open questions.