An inverse spectral problem for second-order functional-differential pencils with two delays

Abstract: We consider a second order functional-differential pencil with two constant delays of the argument and study the inverse problem of recovering its coefficients from the spectra of two boundary value problems with one common boundary condition. The uniqueness theorem is proved and a constructive procedure for solving this inverse problem along with necessary and sufficient conditions for its solvability is obtained. Moreover, we give a survey on the contemporary state of the inverse spectral theory for operators with delay. The pencil under consideration generalizes Sturm-Liouville-type operators with delay, which allows us to illustrate essential results in this direction, including recently solved open questions.