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Spectral parameter power series for Sturm-Liouville problems

We consider a recently discovered representation for the general solution of the Sturm-Liouville equation as a spectral parameter power series (SPPS). The coefficients of the power series are given in terms of a particular solution of the Sturm-Liouville equation with the zero spectral parameter. We show that, among other possible applications, this provides a new and efficient numerical method for solving initial value and boundary value problems. Moreover, due to its convenient form the representation lends itself to numerical solution of spectral Sturm-Liouville problems, effectively by calculation of the roots of a polynomial. We discuss examples of the numerical implementation of the SPPS method and show it to be equally applicable to a wide class of singular Sturm-Liouville problems as well as to problems with spectral parameter dependent boundary conditions.