On the eigenvalues of the Robin Laplacian with a complex parameter
Sabine Bögli, James B. Kennedy, Robin Lang
备注：
Revised and expanded version. More details on the analytic eigenvalue curves are given, the list of references has been considerably expanded, a mistake in the proof of Theorem 1.5 has been corrected, and a new theorem (Theorem 1.6) and section (Section 8) have been added
We study the spectrum of the Robin Laplacian with a complex Robin parameter $α$ on a bounded Lipschitz domain $Ω$. We start by establishing a number of properties of the corresponding operator, such as generation properties, local analytic dependence of the eigenvalues and eigenspaces on $α\in \mathbb C$, and basis properties of the eigenfunctions. Our focus, however, is on bounds and asymptotics for the eigenvalues as functions of $α$: we start by providing estimates on the numerical range of the associated operator, which lead to new eigenvalue bounds even in the case $α\in \mathbb R$. For the asymptotics of the eigenvalues as $α\to \infty$ in $\mathbb C$, in place of the min-max characterisation of the eigenvalues and Dirichlet-Neumann bracketing techniques commonly used in the real case, we exploit the duality between the eigenvalues of the Robin Laplacian and the eigenvalues of the Dirichlet-to-Neumann map. We use this to show that every Robin eigenvalue either diverges to $\infty$ in $\mathbb C$ or converges to a point in the spectrum of the Dirichlet Laplacian, and also to give a comprehensive treatment of the special cases where $Ω$ is an interval, a hyperrectangle or a ball. This leads to the conjecture that on a general smooth domain in dimension $d\geq 2$ all eigenvalues converge to the Dirichlet spectrum if ${\rm Re}\, α$ remains bounded from below as $α\to \infty$, while if ${\rm Re}\, α\to -\infty$, then there is a family of divergent eigenvalue curves, each of which behaves asymptotically like $-α^2$.
We study the Robin Laplacian in a domain with two corners of the same opening, and we calculate the asymptotics of the two lowest eigenvalues as the distance between the corners increases to infinity.
In this paper we establish a Hardy inequality for Laplace operators with Robin boundary conditions. For convex domains, in particular, we show explicitly how the corresponding Hardy weight depends on the coefficient of the Robin boundary conditions. We also study several extensions to non-convex and unbounded domains.
A generalization of Robin boundary conditions leading to self-adjoint operators is developed for the second derivative operator on metric graphs with compact completion and totally disconnected boundary. Harmonic functions and their properties play an essential role.
The aim of this paper is twofold: First, we characterize an essentially optimal class of boundary operators $Θ$ which give rise to self-adjoint Laplacians $-Δ_{Θ, Ω}$ in $L^2(Ω; d^n x)$ with (nonlocal and local) Robin-type boundary conditions on bounded Lipschitz domains $Ω\subset\bbR^n$, $n\in\bbN$, $n\geq 2$. Second, we extend Friedlander's inequalities between Neumann and Dirichlet Laplacian eigenvalues to those between nonlocal Robin and Dirichlet Laplacian eigenvalues associated with bounded Lipschitz domains $Ω$, following an approach introduced by Filonov for this type of problems.
In this paper we study the best constant in a Hardy inequality for the p-Laplace operator on convex domains with Robin boundary conditions. We show, in particular, that the best constant equals $((p-1)/p)^p$ whenever Dirichlet boundary conditions are imposed on a subset of the boundary of non-zero measure. We also discuss some generalizations to non-convex domains.
The difference of the resolvents of two Laplacians on a half-space subject to Robin boundary conditions is studied. In general this difference is not compact, but it will be shown that it is compact and even belongs to some Schatten-von-Neumann class, if the coefficients in the boundary condition are sufficiently close to each other in a proper sense. In certain cases the resolvent difference is shown to belong even to the same Schatten-von Neumann class as it is known for the resolvent difference of two Robin Laplacians on a domain with a compact boundary.
We show that eigenvalues of the Robin Laplacian with a positive boundary parameter $α$ on rectangles and unions of rectangtes satisfy Pólya-type inequalities, albeit with an exponent smaller than that of the corresponding Weyl asympotics for a fixed domain. We determine the optimal exponents in either case, showing that they are different in the two situations. Our approach to proving these results includes a characterisation of the corresponding extremal domains for the $k$th eigenvalue in regions of the $(k,α)$-plane.
The first two eigenvalues of the Robin Laplacian are investigated along with their gap and ratio. Conjectures by various authors for arbitrary domains are supported here by new results for rectangular boxes. Results for rectangular domains include that: the square minimizes the first eigenvalue among rectangles under area normalization, when the Robin parameter $α\in \mathbb{R}$ is scaled by perimeter; that the square maximizes the second eigenvalue for a sharp range of $α$-values; that the line segment minimizes the Robin spectral gap under diameter normalization for each $α\in \mathbb{R}$; a…
We consider the magnetic Robin Laplacian with a negative boundary parameter. Among a certain class of domains, we prove that the disk maximizes the ground state energy under the fixed perimeter constraint provided that the magnetic field is of moderate strength. This class of domains includes, in particular, all domains that are contained upon translations in the disk of the same perimeter and all convex centrally symmetric domains.
We prove that the optimal cluster problem for the sum of the first Robin eigenvalue of the Laplacian, in the limit of a large number of convex cells, is asymptotically solved by (the Cheeger sets of) the honeycomb of regular hexagons. The same result is established for the Robin torsional rigidity.
We study the Robin eigenvalue problem for the Laplace-Beltrami operator on Riemannian manifolds. Our first result is a comparison theorem for the second Robin eigenvalue on geodesic balls in manifolds whose sectional curvatures are bounded from above. Our second result asserts that geodesic balls in nonpositively curved space forms maximize the second Robin eigenvalue among bounded domains of the same volume.
We discuss several geometric conditions guaranteeing the finiteness or the infiniteness of the discrete spectrum for Robin Laplacians on conical domains.
The third eigenvalue of the Robin Laplacian on a simply-connected planar domain of given area is bounded above by the third eigenvalue of a disjoint union of two disks, provided the Robin parameter lies in a certain range and is scaled in each case by the length of the boundary. Equality is achieved when the domain degenerates suitably to the two disks.
Motivated by the study of high energy Steklov eigenfunctions, we examine the semi-classical Robin Laplacian. In the two dimensional situation, we determine an effective operator describing the asymptotic distribution of the negative eigenvalues, and we prove that the corresponding eigenfunctions decay away from the boundary, for all dimensions.
Let $Ω\subset \mathbb{R}^2$ be the exterior of a convex polygon whose side lengths are $\ell_1,...,\ell_M$. For $α>0$, let $H^Ω_α$ denote the Laplacian in $Ω$, $u\mapsto -Δu$, with the Robin boundary conditions $\partial u/\partialν=αu$, where $ν$ is the exterior unit normal at the boundary of $Ω$. We show that, for any fixed $m\in\mathbb{N}$, the $m$th eigenvalue $E^Ω_m(α)$ of $H^Ω_α$ behaves as \[ E^Ω_m(α)=-α^2+μ^D_m +\mathcal{O}\Big(\dfrac{1}{\sqrtα}\Big) \quad {as $α$ tends to $+\infty$}, \] where $μ^D_m$ stands for the $m$th eigenvalue of the operator $D_1\oplus...\oplus D_M$ and $D_n$ de…
Previous works provided several counterexamples to monotonicity of the lowest eigenvalue for the magnetic Laplacian in the two-dimensional case. However, the three-dimensional case is less studied. We use the results obtained by Helffer, Kachmar and Raymond to provide one of the first counterexamples in 3D. Considering the Robin magnetic Laplacian on the unit ball with a constant magnetic field, we show the non-monotonicity of the lowest eigenvalue asymptotics when the Robin parameter tends to $+\infty$.
In this note we investigate the asymptotic behaviour of the $s$-numbers of the resolvent difference of two generalized self-adjoint, maximal dissipative or maximal accumulative Robin Laplacians on a bounded domain $Ω$ with smooth boundary $\partialΩ$. For this we apply the recently introduced abstract notion of quasi boundary triples and Weyl functions from extension theory of symmetric operators together with Krein type resolvent formulae and well-known eigenvalue asymptotics of the Laplace-Beltrami operator on $\partialΩ$. It will be shown that the resolvent difference of two generalized Rob…
We consider the first Robin eigenvalue $ł_p(M,\a)$ for the $p$-Laplacian on a compact Riemannian manifold $M$ with nonempty smooth boundary, with $\a \in \R$ being the Robin parameter. Firstly, we prove eigenvalue comparison theorems of Cheng type for $ł_p(M,\a)$. Secondly, when $\a>0$ we establish sharp lower bound of $ł_p(M,\a)$ in terms of dimension, inradius, Ricci curvature lower bound and boundary mean curvature lower bound, via comparison with an associated one-dimensional eigenvalue problem. The lower bound becomes an upper bound when $\a<0$. Our results cover corresponding comparison …
We consider the Robin Laplacian in the domains $Ω$ and $Ω^\varepsilon$, $\varepsilon >0$, with sharp and blunted cusps, respectively. Assuming that the Robin coefficient $a$ is large enough, the spectrum of the problem in $Ω$ is known to be residual and to cover the whole complex plane, but on the contrary, the spectrum in the Lipschitz domain $Ω^\varepsilon$ is discrete. However, our results reveal the strange behavior of the discrete spectrum as the blunting parameter $\varepsilon$ tends to 0: we construct asymptotic forms of the eigenvalues and detect families of "hardly movable" and "plumm…
Let $Ω\subset \mathbb{R}^n$ be a bounded $C^1$ domain and $p>1$. For $α>0$, define the quantity \[ Λ(α)=\inf_{u\in W^{1,p}(Ω),\, u\not\equiv 0} \Big(\int_Ω|\nabla u|^p\,\mathrm{d}x - α\int_{\partialΩ} |u|^p \,\mathrm{d} s\Big)\Big/ \int_Ω|u|^p\,\mathrm{d} x \] with $\mathrm{d} s$ being the hypersurface measure, which is the lowest eigenvalue of the $p$-laplacian in $Ω$ with a non-linear $α$-dependent Robin boundary condition. We show the asymptotics $Λ(α) =(1-p)α^{p/(p-1)}+o(α^{p/(p-1)})$ as $α$ tends to $+\infty$. The result was only known for the linear case $p=2$ or under stronger smoothnes…
In this note self-adjoint extensions of symmetric operators are investigated by using the abstract technique of quasi boundary triples and their Weyl functions. The main result is an extension of Theorem 2.6 in [5] which provides sufficient conditions on the parameter in the boundary space to induce self-adjoint realizations. As an example self-adjoint Robin Laplacians on the half-space with boundary conditions involving an unbounded coefficient are considered.
Let $\varepsilon>0$ be a small parameter. We consider the domain $Ω_\varepsilon:=Ω\setminus D_\varepsilon$, where $Ω$ is an open domain in $\mathbb{R}^n$, and $D_\varepsilon$ is a family of small balls of the radius $d_\varepsilon=o(\varepsilon)$ distributed periodically with period $\varepsilon$. Let $Δ_\varepsilon$ be the Laplace operator in $Ω_\varepsilon$ subject to the Robin condition ${\partial u\over \partial n}+γ_\varepsilon u = 0$ with $γ_\varepsilon\ge 0$ on the boundary of the holes and the Dirichlet condition on the exterior boundary. Kaizu (1985, 1989) and Brillard (1988) have sho…
We study the asymptotic behaviour of the principal eigenvalue of a Robin (or generalised Neumann) problem with a large parameter in the boundary condition for the Laplacian in a piecewise smooth domain. We show that the leading asymptotic term depends only on the singularities of the boundary of the domain, and give either explicit expressions or two-sided estimates for this term in a variety of situations.
This paper is devoted to establish semiclassical Weyl formulae for the Robin Laplacian on smooth domains in any dimension. Theirs proofs are reminiscent of the Born-Oppenheimer method.
On a bounded Lipschitz domain we consider two selfadjoint operator realizations of the same second order elliptic differential expression subject to Robin boundary conditions, where the coefficients in the boundary conditions are functions. We prove that inequality between these functions on the boundary implies strict inequality between the eigenvalues of the two operators, provided that the inequality of the functions in the boundary conditions is strict on an arbitrarily small nonempty, open set.
Among all $C^{\infty}$ bounded domains with equal volume, we show that the second eigenvalue of the Robin plate is uniquely maximized by an open ball, so long as the Robin parameter lies within a particular range of negative values. Our methodology combines recent techniques introduced by Freitas and Laugesen to study the second eigenvalue of the Robin membrane problem and techniques employed by Chasman to study the free plate problem. In particular, we choose eigenfunctions of the ball as trial functions in the Rayleigh quotient for a general domain; such eigenfunctions are comprised of ultra…
We consider the problem of geometric optimization of the lowest eigenvalue for the Laplacian on a compact, simply-connected two-dimensional manifold with boundary subject to an attractive Robin boundary condition. We prove that in the sub-class of manifolds with the Gauss curvature bounded from above by a constant $K_\circ \ge 0$ and under the constraint of fixed perimeter, the geodesic disk of constant curvature $K_\circ$ maximizes the lowest Robin eigenvalue. In the same geometric setting, it is proved that the spectral isoperimetric inequality holds for the lowest eigenvalue of the Dirichle…
We consider the Laplace operator in a planar waveguide, i.e., an infinite two-dimensional straight strip of constant width, with particular types of Robin boundary conditions. We study the essential spectrum of the corresponding Laplacian when the boundary coupling function has a limit at infinity. Furthermore, we derive sufficient conditions for the existence of discrete spectrum.
The second eigenvalue of the Robin Laplacian is shown to be maximal for the disk among simply-connected planar domains of fixed area when the Robin parameter is scaled by perimeter in the form $α/L(Ω)$, and $α$ lies between $-2π$ and $2π$. Corollaries include Szegő's sharp upper bound on the second eigenvalue of the Neumann Laplacian under area normalization, and Weinstock's inequality for the first nonzero Steklov eigenvalue for simply-connected domains of given perimeter. The first Robin eigenvalue is maximal, under the same conditions, for the degenerate rectangle. When area normalization o…
This paper is devoted to the asymptotic analysis of the eigenvalues of the Laplace operator with a strong magnetic field and Robin boundary condition on a smooth planar domain and with a negative boundary parameter. We study the singular limit when the Robin parameter tends to infinity which is equivalent to a semi-classical limit involving a small positive semi-classical parameter. The main result is a comparison between the spectrum of the Robin Laplacian with an effective operator defined on the boundary of the domain via the Born-Oppenheimer approximation. More precisely, the low-lying eig…
By developing the method of multipliers, we establish sufficient conditions which guarantee the total absence of eigenvalues of the Laplacian in the half-space, subject to variable complex Robin boundary conditions. As a further application of this technique, uniform resolvent estimates are derived under the same assumptions on the potential. Some of the results are new even in the self-adjoint setting, where we obtain quantum-mechanically natural conditions.
We determine a counterexample to strong diamagnetism for the Laplace operator in the unit disc with a uniform magnetic field and Robin boundary condition. The example follows from the accurate asymptotics of the lowest eigenvalue when the Robin parameter tends to $-\infty$.
For a bounded corner domain $Ω$, we consider the Robin Laplacian in $Ω$ with large Robin parameter. Exploiting multiscale analysis and a recursive procedure, we have a precise description of the mechanism giving the ground state of the spectrum. It allows also the study of the bottom of the essential spectrum on the associated tangent structures given by cones. Then we obtain the asymptotic behavior of the principal eigenvalue for this singular limit in any dimension, with remainder estimates. The same method works for the Schrödinger operator in $\mathbb{R}^n$ with a strong attractive delta-i…
We determine accurate asymptotics of the lowest eigenvalue for the Laplace operator with a smooth magnetic field and Robin boundary conditions in a smooth 3D domain, when the Robin parameter tends to $+\infty$. Our results identify a critical regime where the contribution of the magnetic field and the Robin condition are of the same order. In this critical regime, we derive an effective operator defined on the boundary of the domain.
Let $Ω$ be a curvilinear polygon and $Q^γ_Ω$ be the Laplacian in $L^2(Ω)$, $Q^γ_Ωψ=-Δψ$, with the Robin boundary condition $\partial_νψ=γψ$, where $\partial_ν$ is the outer normal derivative and $γ>0$. We are interested in the behavior of the eigenvalues of $Q^γ_Ω$ as $γ$ becomes large. We prove that the asymptotics of the first eigenvalues of $Q^γ_Ω$ is determined at the leading order by those of model operators associated with the vertices: the Robin Laplacians acting on the tangent sectors associated with $\partial Ω$. In the particular case of a polygon with straight edges the first eigenp…
In this paper, we prove a quantitative spectral inequality for the second Robin eigenvalue in non-compact rank-1 symmetric spaces. In particular, this shows that for bounded domains in non-compact rank-1 symmetric spaces, the geodesic ball maximises the second Robin eigenvalue among domains of the same volume, with negative Robin parameter in the regime connecting the first nontrivial Neumann and Steklov eigenvalues. This result generalises the work of Freitas and Laugesen in the Euclidean setting [FL21] as well as our previous work in the hyperbolic space [LWW20].
We determine accurate asymptotics for the low-lying eigenvalues of the Robin Laplacian when the Robin parameter goes to $-\infty$. The two first terms in the expansion have been obtained by K. Pankrashkin in the $2D$-case and by K. Pankrashkin and N. Popoff in higher dimensions. The asymptotics display the influence of the scalar curvature and the splitting between every two consecutive eigenvalues. The analysis is based on the approach developed by Fournais-Helffer for the semi-classical magnetic Laplacian. We also propose a WKB construction as a candidate for the ground state energy.
We study the Laplacian in a smooth bounded domain, with a varying Robin boundary condition singular at one point. The associated quadratic form is not semi-bounded from below, and the corresponding Laplacian is not self-adjoint, it has the residual spectrum covering the whole complex plane. We describe its self-adjoint extensions and exhibit a physically relevant skew-symmetric one. We approximate the boundary condition, giving rise to a family of self-adjoint operators, and we describe their eigenvalues by the method of matched asymptotic expansions. These eigenvalues acquire a strange behavi…
For $α\in(0,π)$, let $U_α$ denote the infinite planar sector of opening $2α$, \[ U_α=\big\{ (x_1,x_2)\in\mathbb R^2: \big|\arg(x_1+ix_2) \big|<α\big\}, \] and $T^γ_α$ be the Laplacian in $L^2(U_α)$, $T^γ_αu= -Δu$, with the Robin boundary condition $\partial_νu=γu$, where $\partial_ν$ stands for the outer normal derivative and $γ>0$. The essential spectrum of $T^γ_α$ does not depend on the angle $α$ and equals $[-γ^2,+\infty)$, and the discrete spectrum is non-empty iff $α<\fracπ2$. In this case we show that the discrete spectrum is always finite and that each individual eigenvalue is a contino…
We consider the cases where there is equality in Courant's nodal domain theorem for the Laplacian with a Robin boundary condition on the square. In our previous two papers, we treated the cases where the Robin parameter $h>0$ is large, small respectively. In this paper we investigate the case where $h<0\,$.
We study the location of the spectrum of the Laplacian on compact metric graphs with complex Robin-type vertex conditions, also known as $δ$ conditions, on some or all of the graph vertices. We classify the eigenvalue asymptotics as the complex Robin parameter(s) diverge to $\infty$ in $\mathbb{C}$: for each vertex $v$ with a Robin parameter $α\in \mathbb{C}$ for which $\mathrm{\Re}\,α\to -\infty$ sufficiently quickly, there exists exactly one divergent eigenvalue, which behaves like $-α^2/\mathrm{deg}\,v^2$, while all other eigenvalues stay near the spectrum of the Laplacian with a Dirichlet …
Let $Ω\subset\mathbb{R}^ν$, $ν\ge 2$, be a $C^{1,1}$ domain whose boundary $\partialΩ$ is either compact or behaves suitably at infinity. For $p\in(1,\infty)$ and $α>0$, define \[ Λ(Ω,p,α):=\inf_{\substack{u\in W^{1,p}(Ω)\\ u\not\equiv 0}}\dfrac{\displaystyle \int_Ω|\nabla u|^p \mathrm{d} x - α\displaystyle\int_{\partialΩ} |u|^p\mathrm{d}σ}{\displaystyle\int_Ω|u|^p\mathrm{d} x}, \] where $\mathrm{d}σ$ is the surface measure on $\partialΩ$. We show the asymptotics \[ Λ(Ω,p,α)=-(p-1)α^{\frac{p}{p-1}} - (ν-1)H_\mathrm{max}\, α+ o(α), \quad α\to+\infty, \] where $H_\mathrm{max}$ is the maximum mea…
In the present paper we introduce the perturbed two-dimensional Robin bi-Laplacian in the exterior of a bounded simply-connected $C^2$-smooth open set. The considered perturbation is of lower order and corresponds to tension. We prove that the essential spectrum of this operator coincides with the positive semi-axis and that the negative discrete spectrum is non-empty if, and only if, the boundary parameter is negative. As the main result, we obtain an isoperimetric inequality for the lowest eigenvalue of such a perturbed Robin bi-Laplacian with a negative boundary parameter in the exterior of…
In this paper, we show that equality in Courant's nodal domain theorem can only be reached for a finite number of eigenvalues of the Neumann Laplacian, in the case of an open, bounded and connected set in R n with a C 1,1 boundary. This result is analogous to Pleijel's nodal domain theorem for the Dirichlet Laplacian (1956). It confirms, in all dimensions, a conjecture formulated by Pleijel, which had already been solved by I. Polterovich for a two-dimensional domain with a piecewise-analytic boundary (2009). We also show that the argument and the result extend to a class of Robin boundary con…
The second eigenvalue of the Robin Laplacian is shown to be maximal for the ball among domains of fixed volume, for negative values of the Robin parameter $α$ in the regime connecting the first nontrivial Neumann and Steklov eigenvalues, and even somewhat beyond the Steklov regime. The result is close to optimal, since the ball is not maximal when $α$ is sufficiently large negative, and the problem admits no maximiser when $α$ is positive.
