Abstract multiparameter theory,I

In this paper we continue our investigation of multiparameter spectral theory. Let H₁,…, H_k be separable Hilbert spaces and H = ?_{r = 1}^kH_r, be their tensor product. In each space H_r we have densely defined self-adjoint operators T_r and continuous Hermitian operators V_rs. The multiparameter eigenvalue problem concerns eigenvalues λ = (λ₁,…, λ_n) ?R^k and eigenvectors $\text{? = ?}{}_1\text{? ··· ? ?}{}_{\mathrm{k}}\text{? H}$ such that $\text{T}{}_{\mathrm{r}}\text{?}{}_{\mathrm{r}}\text{+ ∑}{}_{\mathrm{s\; =\; 1}}{}^{\mathrm{k}}\text{λ}{}_{\mathrm{s}}\text{V}{}_{\mathrm{rs}}\text{?}{}_{\mathrm{r}}\text{= 0}$. We develop a spectral theory for such systems leading to a Parseval equality and generalized eigenvector expansion. The results are applied to a k × k system of linked secondorder differential equations.