Special values of spectral zeta functions and combinatorics: Sturm-Liouville problems

Abstract: In this paper, we apply the combinatorial results on counting permutations with fixed pinnacle and vale sets to evaluate the special values of the spectral zeta functions of Sturm-Liouville differential operators. As applications, we get a combinatorial formula for the special values of spectral zeta functions and give a new explicit formula for Bernoulli numbers.