In this paper, we introduce a new notion of convergence for the Laplace eigenfunctions in the semiclassical limit, the local weak convergence. This allows us to give a rigorous statement of Berry's random wave conjecture. Using recent results of Bourgain, Buckley and Wigman, we will prove that some deterministic families of eigenfunctions on $\mathbb{T}^2$ satisfy the conclusions of the random wave conjecture. We also show that on an arbitrary domain, a sequence of Laplace eigenfunctions always admits local weak limits. We explain why these local weak limits can be a powerful tool to study the asymptotic number of nodal domains.
In this paper we deal with the problems of the weak localization of the eigenfunction expansions related to Laplace-Beltrami operator on unit sphere. The conditions for weak localization of Fourier-Laplace series are investigated by comparing the Riesz and Cesaro methods of summation for eigenfunction expansions of the Laplace-Beltrami operator. It is shown that the weak localization principle for the integrable functions f(x) at the point x depends not only on behavior of the function around x but on the behavior of the function around diametrically opposite point \overline{x}.
We obtain restrictions on the persistence barcodes of Laplace-Beltrami eigenfunctions and their linear combinations on compact surfaces with Riemannian metrics. Some applications to uniform approximation by linear combinations of Laplace eigenfunctions are also discussed.
We provide a limiting absorption principle for the self-adjoint realizations of Laplace operators corresponding to boundary conditions on (relatively open parts $Σ$ of) compact hypersurfaces $Γ=\partialΩ$, $Ω\subset{\mathbb{R}}^{n}$. For any of such self-adjoint operators we also provide the generalized eigenfunctions and the scattering matrix; both these objects are written in terms of operator-valued Weyl functions. We make use of a Krein-type formula which provides the resolvent difference between the operator corresponding to self-adjoint boundary conditions on the hypersurface and the fre…
The purpose of this note is to extend to any space dimension the bilinear estimate for eigenfunctions of the Laplace operator on a compact manifold (without boundary) obtained in a previous work in dimension 2. We also give some related trilinear estimates.
We consider mass concentration properties of Laplace eigenfunctions $φ_λ$, that is, smooth functions satisfying the equation $-Δφ_λ= λφ_λ$, on a smooth closed Riemannian manifold. Using a heat diffusion technique, we first discuss mass concentration/localization properties of eigenfunctions around their nodal sets. Second, we discuss the problem of avoided crossings and (non)existence of nodal domains which continue to be thin over relatively long distances. Further, using the above techniques, we discuss the decay of Laplace eigenfunctions on Euclidean domains which have a central "thick" par…
We use probabilistic tools based on Brownian motion and Feynman-Kac formulae to investigate the heat profile for the ground state Dirichlet and second Neumann eigenfunctions. Among other topics, we comment on supremum norm bounds for ground state Dirichlet eigenfunctions and look at the corresponding Neumann problem, namely the comparison of maximum temperatures on the interior and the boundary, the latter being partially motivated by the hot spots problem. We also investigate the proximity/distance of level sets of ground state Dirichlet eigenfunctions, some with analogous statements for Neum…
In this paper we consider eigenfunctions of the Laplacian on a planar domain with polygonal boundary with Dirichlet, Neumann, or mixed boundary conditions. The main result is a quantitative estimate on the $L^2$ mass of eigenfunctions near a point in terms of the distance to the nearest non-adjacent boundary face. In particular, eigenfunctions cannot concentrate completely at any one single point. The technique of proof is to use the commutator ideas from the recent work of the author \cite{Chr-tri,Chr-simp} on triangles and simplices.
We study the critical points of Laplace eigenfunctions on polygonal domains with a focus on the second Neumann eigenfunction. We show that if each convex quadrilaterals has no second Neumann eigenfunction with an interior critical point, then there exists a convex quadrilateral with an unstable critical point. We also show that each critical point of a second-Neumann eigenfunction on a Lip-1 polygon with no orthogonal sides is an acute vertex.
We give estimates for the $L^p$ norm ($2\leq p \leq +\infty$) of the restriction to a curve of the eigenfunctions of the Laplace Beltrami operator on a Riemannian surface. If the curve is a geodesic, we show that on the sphere these estimates are sharp. If the curve has non vanishing geodesic curvature, we can improve our results. We also show how our approach apply to higher dimensional manifolds.
Let $Ω$ be a bounded domain in $\mathbb{R}^n$ with $C^{1}$ boundary and let $u_λ$ be a Dirichlet Laplace eigenfunction in $Ω$ with eigenvalue $λ$. We show that the $(n-1)$-dimensional Hausdorff measure of the zero set of $u_λ$ does not exceed $C(Ω)\sqrtλ$. This result is new even for the case of domains with $C^\infty$-smooth boundary.
Consider an $L^2$-normalized Laplace-Beltrami eigenfunction $e_λ$ on a compact, boundary-less Riemannian manifold with $Δe_λ= -λ^2 e_λ$. We study eigenfunction triple products \[ \langle e_λe_μ, e_ν\rangle = \int e_λe_μ\overline{e_ν} \, dV. \] We show the overall $\ell^2$-concentration of these triple products is determined by the measure of some set of configurations of triangles with side lengths equal to the frequencies $λ,μ,$ and $ν$. A rapidly vanishing proportion of this mass lies in the `classically forbidden' regime where $λ, μ,$ and $ν$ fail to satisfy the triangle inequality. As a co…
We study the stability properties of nodal sets of Laplace eigenfunctions on compact manifolds under specific small perturbations. We prove that nodal sets are fairly stable if said perturbations are relatively small, more formally, supported at a sub-wavelength scale. We do not need any assumption on the topology of the nodal sets. As an indirect application, we are able to show that a certain "Payne property" concerning the second nodal line remains stable under controlled perturbations of the domain.
We investigate several aspects of the nodal geometry and topology of Laplace eigenfunctions, with particular emphasis on the low frequency regime. This includes investigations in and around the Payne property, opening angle estimates of nodal domains, saturation of (fundamental) spectral gaps etc., and behaviour of all of the above under small scale perturbations. We aim to highlight interesting aspects of spectral theory and nodal phenomena tied to ground state/low energy eigenfunctions, as opposed to asymptotic results.
A fundamental solution of Laplace's equation in three dimensions is expanded in harmonic functions that are separated in parabolic or elliptic cylinder coordinates. There are two expansions in each case which reduce to expansions of the Bessel functions $J_0(kr)$ or $K_0(kr)$, $r^2=(x-x_0)^2+(y-y_0)^2$, in parabolic and elliptic cylinder harmonics. Advantage is taken of the fact that $K_0(kr)$ is a fundamental solution and $J_0(kr)$ is the Riemann function of partial differential equations on the Euclidean plane.
We prove a result, announced by F. Nazarov, L. Polterovich and M. Sodin that exhibits a relation between the average local growth of a Laplace eigenfunction on a closed surface and the global size of its nodal set. More precisely, we provide a lower and an upper bound to the Hausdorff measure of the nodal set in terms of the expected value of the growth exponent of an eigenfunction on disks of wavelength like radius. Combined with Yau's conjecture, the result implies that the average local growth of an eigenfunction on such disks is bounded by constants in the semi-classical limit. We also obt…
- In this article, we prove some universal bounds on the speed of concentration on small (frequency-dependent) neighborhoods of submanifolds of L 2-norms of quasi modes for Laplace operators on compact manifolds. We deduce new results on the rate of decay of weakly damped wave equations. R{é}sum{é}.
In this work we extend a recent result by Dyda et. al. [B. Dyda, A. Kuznetsov, M. Kwasnicki, Eigenvalues of the fractional Laplace equation in the unit ball, J. Lond. Math. Soc. (2) 95 (2017), 500-518.] to dimension 3.
We study the set of critical points of a solution to $Δu = λ\cdot u$ and in particular components of the critical set that have codimension 1. We show, for example, that if a second Neumann eigenfunction of a simply connected polygon $P$ has infinitely many critical points, then $P$ is a rectangle.
- The purpose of this article is to study possible concentrations of eigenfunc-tions of Laplace operators (or more generally quasi-modes) on product manifolds. We show that the approach of the first author and Zworski [10, 11] applies (modulo rescalling) and deduce new stabilization results for weakly damped wave equations which extend to product manifolds previous results by Leautaud-Lerner [12] obtained for products of tori.
We use the sum-of-squares theorem from number theory to construct eigenfunctions of the Laplacian on the $d$-dimensional torus, $d \geq 2$, which vanish to any prescribed order at some point. These functions are then applied to provide a negative answer (in dimension $d \geq 2$) to a question in the context of quantitative unique continuation for spectral projectors of Schrödinger operators, asked by Egidi and Veselić.
This is a review of old and new results and methods related to the Yau conjecture on the zero set of Laplace eigenfunctions. The review accompanies two lectures given at the conference CDM 2018. We discuss the works of Donnelly and Fefferman including their solution of the conjecture in the case of real-analytic Riemannian manifolds. The review exposes the new results for Yau's conjecture in the smooth setting. We try to avoid technical details and emphasize the main ideas of the proof of Nadirashvili's conjecture. We also discuss two-dimensional methods to study zero sets.
We study the asymptotic behavior of the solutions of a spectral problem for the Laplacian in a domain with rapidly oscillating boundary. We consider the case where the eigenvalue of the limit problem is multiple. We construct the leading terms of the asymptotic expansions for the eigenelements and verify the asymptotics.
Let $Δ_M$ be the Laplace operator on a compact $n$-dimensional Riemannian manifold without boundary. We study the zero sets of its eigenfunctions $u:Δu + λu =0$. In dimension $n=2$ we refine the Donnelly-Fefferman estimate by showing that $H^1(\{u=0 \})\le Cλ^{3/4-β}$, $β\in (0,1/4)$. The proof employs the Donnelli-Fefferman estimate and a combinatorial argument, which also gives a lower (non-sharp) bound in dimension $n=3$: $H^2(\{u=0\})\ge cλ^α$, $α\in (0,1/2)$. The positive constants $c,C$ depend on the manifold, $α$ and $β$ are universal.
Let $\De u+\la u=\De v+\la v=0$, where $\De$ is the Laplace--Beltrami operator on a compact connected smooth manifold $M$ and $\la>0$. If $H^1(M)=0$ then there exists $p\in M$ such that $u(p)=v(p)=0$. For homogeneous $M$, $H^1(M)\neq0$ implies the existence of a pair $u,v$ as above that has no common zero.
Let $\mathbb{M}$ be a compact $C^\infty$-smooth Riemannian manifold of dimension $n$, $n\geq 3$, and let $φ_λ: Δ_M φ_λ+ λφ_λ= 0$ denote the Laplace eigenfunction on $\mathbb{M}$ corresponding to the eigenvalue $λ$. We show that $$H^{n-1}(\{ φ_λ=0\}) \leq C λ^α,$$ where $α>1/2$ is a constant, which depends on $n$ only, and $C>0$ depends on $\mathbb{M}$ . This result is a consequence of our study of zero sets of harmonic functions on $C^\infty$-smooth Riemannian manifolds. We develop a technique of propagation of smallness for solutions of elliptic PDE that allows us to obtain local bounds from …
Let $u$ be a harmonic function in the unit ball $B(0,1) \subset \mathbb{R}^n$, $n \geq 3$, such that $u(0)=0$. Nadirashvili conjectured that there exists a positive constant $c$, depending on the dimension $n$ only, such that $H^{n-1}(\{u=0 \}\cap B) \geq c$. We prove Nadirashvili's conjecture as well as its counterpart on $C^\infty$-smooth Riemannian manifolds. The latter yields the lower bound in Yau's conjecture. Namely, we show that for any compact $C^\infty$-smooth Riemannian manifold $M$ (without boundary) of dimension $n$ there exists $c>0$ such that for any Laplace eigenfunction $φ_λ$ …
Given a compact Riemannian manifold $(M, g)$ without boundary, we estimate the Lebesgue norm of Laplace-Beltrami eigenfunctions when restricted to a wide variety of subsets $Γ$ of $M$. The sets $Γ$ that we consider are Borel measurable, Lebesgue-null but otherwise arbitrary with positive Hausdorff dimension. Our estimates are based on Frostman-type ball growth conditions for measures supported on $Γ$. For large Lebesgue exponents $p$, these estimates provide a natural generalization of $L^p$ bounds for eigenfunctions restricted to submanifolds, previously obtained in \cite{Ho68, Ho71, Sog88, B…
It is proved that if a Paley-Wiener family of eigenfunctions of the Laplace operator in $\mathbb R^3$ vanishes on a real analytically ruled two-dimensional surface $S \subset \mathbb R^3$ then $S$ is a union of cones, each of which is contained in a translate of the zero set of a nonzero harmonic homogeneous polynomial. If $S$ is an immersed $C^1-$ manifold then $S$ is a Coxeter system of planes. Full description of common nodal sets of the Laplace spectra of convexly supported distributions is given. In equivalent terms, the result describes ruled injectivity sets for the spherical mean trans…
We study the nodal set of Laplace eigenfunctions on the flat $2d$ torus $\mathbb{T}^2$. We prove an asymptotic law for the nodal length of such eigenfunctions, under some growth assumptions on their Fourier coefficients. Moreover, we show that their nodal set is asymptotically equidistributed on $\mathbb{T}^2$. The proofs are based on Bourgain's de-randomisation technique and the main new ingredient, which might be of independent interest, is the integrability of arbitrarily large powers of the doubling index of Laplace eigenfunctions on $\mathbb{T}^2$, based on the work of Nazarov \cite{N93,N…
The paper deals with asymptotic nodal geometry for the Laplace-Beltrami operator on closed surfaces. Given an eigenfunction f corresponding to a large eigenvalue, we study local asymmetry of the distribution of sign(f) with respect to the surface area. It is measured as follows: take any disc centered at the nodal line {f=0}, and pick at random a point in this disc. What is the probability that the function assumes a positive value at the chosen point? We show that this quantity may decay logarithmically as the eigenvalue goes to infinity, but never faster than that. In other words, only a mil…
It has been empirically observed that eigenfunctions of Laplace's equation $-Δϕ= λϕ$ with Neumann boundary conditions sometimes localize near the boundary of the domain if that boundary is rough (say, fractal). This has some nontrivial implications in acoustics that has been put to real-life use (sound attenuation by noise-protective walls); this short paper describes the mathematical mechanism responsible for this and describes the quantitative strength of the phenomenon for some examples.
We summarize the properties of eigenvalues and eigenfunctions of the Laplace operator in bounded Euclidean domains with Dirichlet, Neumann or Robin boundary condition. We keep the presentation at a level accessible to scientists from various disciplines ranging from mathematics to physics and computer sciences. The main focus is put onto multiple intricate relations between the shape of a domain and the geometrical structure of eigenfunctions.
We establish the existence of ground states on Euclidean space for the Laplace operator involving the Hardy type potential. This gives rise to the existence of the principal eigenfunctions for the Laplace operator involving weighted Hardy potentials. We also obtain a higher integrability property for the principal eigenfunction. This is used to examine the behaviour of the principal eigenfunction around 0.
We show that eigenvalues and eigenfunctions of the Laplace-Beltrami operator on a Riemannian manifold are approximated by eigenvalues and eigenvectors of a (suitably weighted) graph Laplace operator of a proximity graph on an epsilon-net.
Let ϕ be a Dirichlet or Neumann eigenfunction of the Laplace-Beltrami operator on a compact Riemannian manifold with boundary. We prove lower bounds for the size of the nodal set {ϕ=0}.
Let $e(x,y,ł)$ be the spectral function and $χ_ł$ the unit band spectral projection operator, with respect to the Laplace-Beltrami operator $\D_M$ on a closed Riemannian manifold $M$. We firstly review the one-term asymptotic formula of $e(x,x,ł)$ as $ł\to\infty$ by H{\" o}rmander (1968) and the one of $\p^\al_x\p^\bt_y e(x,y,ł)|_{x=y}$ as $ł\to\infty$ in a geodesic normal coordinate chart by the author (2004) and the sharp asymptotic estimates from above of the mapping norm $\|χ_ł\|_{L_2\to L_p}$ ($2\leq p\leq\infty$) by Sogge (1988 $&$ 1989) and of the mapping norm $\|χ_ł\|_{L_2\to {\rm Sobo…
In the limit $\hbar\to 0$, we analyze a class of Schrödinger operators $H_\hbar = \hbar^2 L + \hbar W + V\cdot \mathrm{id}$ acting on sections of a vector bundle $\mathcal{Eh}$ over a Riemannian manifold $M$ where $L$ is a Laplace type operator, $W$ is an endomorphism field and the potential energy $V$ has a non-degenerate minimum at some point $p\in M$. We construct quasimodes of WKB-type near $p$ for eigenfunctions associated with the low lying eigenvalues of $H_\hbar$. These are obtained from eigenfunctions of the associated harmonic oscillator $H_{p, \hbar}$ at $p$, acting on smooth functi…
We consider the Laplace operator with Dirichlet boundary conditions on a domain in R^d and study the effect that performing a scaling in one direction has on the eigenvalues and corresponding eigenfunctions as a function of the scaling parameter around zero. This generalizes our previous results in two dimensions and, as in that case, allows us to obtain an approximation for Dirichlet eigenvalues for a large class of domains, under very mild assumptions. As an application, we derive a three--term asymptotic expansion for the first eigenvalue of d-dimensional ellipsoids.
We consider linear combinations of eigenfunctions of the Laplace-Beltrami operator on a compact Riemannian manifold $(M,g)$ and investigate a density property of their zero sets. More precisely, let $f=\sum_{k=1}^m a_k ϕ_{λ_{j_k}}$, where $-Δ_gϕ_λ=λϕ_λ$. Denoting by $Z_f$ the zero-set of $f$, we show that for any $x\in M$, $dist(x,Z_f)\leq C(m)λ_{j_1}^{-1/2}$. The proof is based on a new integral Harnack-type estimate for positive solutions of higher order elliptic PDEs.
Let $\{e_j\}$ be an orthonormal basis of Laplace eigenfunctions of a compact Riemannian manifold $(M,g)$. Let $H \subset M$ be a submanifold and let $\{ψ_k\}$ be an orthonormal basis of Laplace eigenfunctions of $H$ with the induced metric. We obtain joint asymptotics for the Fourier coefficients \[ \langle γ_H e_j, ψ_k \rangle_{L^2(H)} = \int_H e_j \overline ψ_k \, dV_H, \] of restrictions $γ_H e_j$ of $e_j$ to $H$. In particular, we obtain asymptotics for the sums of the norm-squares of the Fourier coefficients over the joint spectrum $\{(μ_k, λ_j)\}_{j,k - 0}^{\infty}$ of the (square roots …
Let $e_ł(x)$ be an eigenfunction with respect to the Laplace-Beltrami operator $Δ_M$ on a compact Riemannian manifold $M$ without boundary: $Δ_M e_ł=ł^2 e_ł$. We show the following gradient estimate of $e_ł$: for every $ł\geq 1$, there holds $ł\|e_ł\|_\infty/C\leq \|\nabla e_ł\|_\infty\leq Cł\|e_ł\|_\infty$, where $C$ is a positive constant depending only on $M$.
Husimi distributions of Laplace eigenfunctions are special types of `microlocal lifts' of eigenfunctions to phase space. Their weak * limits are the well-known quantum limits or microlocal defect measures of an orthonormal basis $\{ ϕ_j\}$ of eigenfunctions on a Riemannian manifold $(M,g)$ . Husimi distributions are normalized mod squares of analytic continuations of eigenfunctions to the complexification of $M$, which may be identified with an open subset of the cotangent bundle $T^*M$. Husimi distributions are probability measures whose density at $ζ$ is the probability density of a quantum …
In a recent paper, we exhibit a link between the average local growth of Laplace eigenfunctions on surfaces and the size of their nodal set. In that paper, the average local growth is computed using the uniform - or $L^\infty$ - growth exponents on disks of wavelength radius. The purpose of this note is to prove similar results for a broader class of $L^q$ growth exponents with $q \in (1, \infty)$. More precisely, we show that the size of the nodal set is bounded above and below by the product of the average local $L^q$ growth with the frequency. We briefly discuss the relation between this ne…
We consider restrictions along closed geodesics and geodesic circles for eigenfunctions of the Laplace-Beltrami operator on a compact hyperbolic Riemann surface. We obtain a non-trivial bound on the L^2-norm of such restrictions as the eigenvalue tends to infinity. We use methods from the theory of automorphic functions and in particular the uniqueness of invariant functionals on irreducible unitary representations of PGL(2,R).
We construct a specific family of eigenfunctions for a Laplace operator with coefficients having a jump across an interface. These eigenfunctions have an exponential concentration arbitrarily close to the interface, and therefore could be considered as whispering gallery modes. The proof is based on an appropriate Agmon estimate. We deduce as a corollary that the quantitative unique continuation result for waves propagating in singular media proved by the author in [Fil22] is optimal.
