$ζ$-function for a model with spectral dependent boundary conditions

Abstract: We explore the meromorphic structure of the $\zeta$-function associated to the boundary eigenvalue problem of a modified Sturm-Liouville operator subject to spectral dependent boundary conditions at one end of a segment of length $l$. We find that it presents isolated simple poles which follow the general rule valid for second order differential operators subject to standard local boundary conditions. We employ our results to evaluate the determinant of the operator and the Casimir energy of the system it describes, and study its dependence on $l$ for both the massive and the massless cases.