Divergence of spectral decompositions of Hill operators with two exponential term potentials

Abstract: We consider the Hill operator $$ Ly = - y^{\prime \prime} + v(x)y, \quad 0 \leq x \leq \pi, $$ subject to periodic or antiperiodic boundary conditions ($bc$) with potentials of the form $$ v(x) = a e^{-2irx} + b e^{2isx}, \quad a, b \neq 0, r,s \in \mathbb{N}, r\neq s. $$ It is shown that the system of root functions does not contain a basis in $L^2 ([0,\pi], \mathbb{C})$ if $bc$ are periodic or if $bc$ are antiperiodic and $r, s$ are odd or $r=1$ and $s \geq 3. $