A spectral perturbation problem and its applications to waves above an underwater ridge

We consider the problem of perturbing the spectrum of a pseudodifferential operator of a real variable in Hardy-type spaces by a compact operator with a small norm. Under some very general requirements on the operators, we prove the existence theorem for an eigenfunction of multiplicity one and prove that the problem is Fredholm in the $L_2(\mathbb R)$ space. Illustrating this theory, we discuss the linear problem of gravitational-capillary surface waves running along an underwater ridge. Assuming the liquid ideal, incompressible, and vortex-free, we show that the waves along the underwater ridge propagate so that their amplitude decays exponentially with a small positive exponent in the direction transverse to the ridge. Moreover, capillarity plays no essential role in a linear approximation.