Comparison theorems for symplectic systems of difference equations

In the present paper, we prove comparison theorems for symplectic systems of difference equations, which generalize difference analogs of canonical systems of differential equations. We obtain general relations between the number of focal points of conjoined bases of two symplectic systems with matrices W _i and $ \hat W_i $ \hat W_i as well as their corollaries, which generalize well-known comparison theorems for Hamiltonian difference systems. We consider applications of comparison theorems to spectral theory and in the theory of transformations. We obtain a formula for the number of eigenvalues λ of a symplectic boundary value problem on the interval (λ ₁, λ ₂]. For an arbitrary symplectic transformation, we prove a relationship between the numbers of focal points of the conjoined bases of the original and transformed systems. In the case of a constant transformation, we prove a theorem that generalizes the well-known reciprocity principle for discrete Hamiltonian systems.