We establish metric graph counterparts of Pleijel's theorem on the asymptotics of the number of nodal domains $ν_n$ of the $n$-th eigenfunction(s) of a broad class of operators on compact metric graphs, including Schrödinger operators with $L^1$-potentials and a variety of vertex conditions as well as the $p$-Laplacian with natural vertex conditions, and without any assumptions on the lengths of the edges, the topology of the graph, or the behaviour of the eigenfunctions at the vertices. {Among other things, these results characterise the accumulation points of the sequence $(\frac{ν_n}{n})_{n\in\mathbb N}$, which are shown always to form a finite subset of $(0,1]$. This} extends the previously known result that $ν_n\sim n$ \textit{generically}, for certain realisations of the Laplacian, in several directions. In particular, in the special cases of the Laplacian with natural conditions, we show that for graphs with rationally dependent edge lengths, one can find eigenfunctions thereon for which ${ν_n}\not\sim {n}$; but in this case even the set of points of accumulation may depend on the choice of eigenbasis.
We prove a Pleijel-type theorem for the asymptotic behaviour of the number of nodal domains of eigenfunctions of the quantum harmonic oscillator in any dimension.
A slight improvement of Pleijel's estimate on the number of nodal domains is obtained, exploiting a refinement of the Faber-Krahn inequality and packing density of discs.
We prove an analogue of Pleijel's nodal domain theorem for piecewise analytic planar domains with Neumann boundary conditions. This confirms a conjecture made by Pleijel in 1956. The proof is a combination of Pleijel's original approach and an estimate due to Toth and Zelditch for the number of boundary zeros of Neumann eigenfunctions.
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…
In 1956 $Å$. Pleijel gave his celebrated theorem showing that the inequality in Courant's theorem on the number of nodal domains is strict for large eigenvalues of the Laplacian. This was a consequence of a stronger result giving an asymptotic upper bound for the number of nodal domains of the eigenfunctions as the eigenvalues tend to $+\infty$. A similar question occurs naturally for Schr"\odinger operators. The first significant result has been obtained recently by the first author for the harmonic oscillator. The purpose of this paper is to consider more general potentials which are radial.…
Let $Ω\subset \mathbb R^d\,, d\geq 2$, be a bounded open set, and denote by $λ\_j(Ω), j\geq 1$, the eigenvalues of the Dirichlet Laplacian arranged in nondecreasing order, with multiplicities. The weak form of Pleijel's theorem states that the number of eigenvalues $λ\_j(Ω)$, for which there exists an associated eigenfunction with precisely $j$ nodal domains (Courant-sharp eigenvalues), is finite. The purpose of this note is to determine an upper bound for Courant-sharp eigenvalues, expressed in terms of simple geometric invariants of $Ω$. We will see that this is connected with one of the fav…
In this paper, we revisit Courant's nodal domain theorem for the Dirichlet eigenfunctions of a square membrane, and the analyses of A. Stern and Å. Pleijel.
Pleijel's theorem for a class of degenerate elliptic operators
Ludwig-Maximilians Universität München（慕尼黑路德维希-马克西米利安大学）；Munich Center for Quantum Science and Technology（慕尼黑量子科学与技术中心）；Caltech（加州理工学院）；Laboratoire de Mathématiques Jean Leray, CNRS, Nantes Université（让·勒雷数学实验室，法国国家科学研究中心，南特大学）
In this survey, we review the properties of minimal spectral $k$-partitions in the two-dimensional case and revisit their connections with Pleijel's Theorem. We focus on the large $k$ problem (and the hexagonal conjecture) in connection with two recent preprints by J. Bourgain and S. Steinerberger on the Pleijel Theorem. This leads us also to discuss some conjecture by I. Polterovich, in relation with square tilings. We also establish a Pleijel Theorem for Aharonov-Bohm Hamiltonians and deduce from it, via the magnetic characterization of the minimal partitions, some lower bound for the number…
This paper is devoted to the refine analysis of Courant's theorem for the Dirichlet Laplacian. Many papers (and some of them quite recent) have investigated in which cases this inequality in Courant's theorem is an equality: Pleijel, Helffer--Hoffmann-Ostenhof--Terracini, Helffer--Hoffmann-Ostenhof, Bérard-Helffer, Helffer--Persson-Sundqvist, Léna, Leydold. All these results were devoted to $(2D)$-cases in open sets in $\mathbb R^2$ or in surfaces like $\mathbb S^2$ or $\mathbb T^2$. The aim of the current paper is to look for analogous results for domains in $\mathbb{R}^3$ and, as $Å.$Pleijel…
Å Pleijel has proved that in the case of the Laplacian on the square with Neumann condition, the equality in the Courant nodal theorem (Courant sharp situation) can only be true for a finite number of eigenvalues. We identify five Courant sharp eigenvalues for the Neumann Laplacian in the square, and prove that there are no other cases.
Å. Pleijel (1956) has proved that in the case of the Laplacian with Dirichlet condition, the equality in the Courant nodal theorem (Courant sharp situation) can only be true for a finite number of eigenvalues when the dimension is $\geq 2$. Recently Polterovich extended the result to the Neumann problem in two dimensions in the case when the boundary is piecewise analytic. A question coming from the theory of spectral minimal partitions has motivated the analysis of the cases when one has equality in Courant's theorem. In this note, we identify the Courant sharp eigenvalues for the Dirichlet a…
We address the question of determining the eigenvalues $λ\_n$ (listed in nondecreasing order, with multiplicities) for which Courant's nodal domain theorem is sharp i.e., for which there exists an associated eigenfunction with $n$ nodal domains (Courant-sharp eigenvalues). Following ideas going back to Pleijel (1956), we prove that the only Courant-sharp eigenvalues of the flat equilateral torus are the first and second, and that the only Courant-sharp Dirichlet eigenvalues of the equilateral triangle are the first, second, and fourth eigenvalues. In the last section we sketch similar results …
This paper is devoted to the determination of the cases where there is equality in Courant's nodal domain theorem in the case of a Robin boundary condition. For the square, we partially extend the results that were obtained by Pleijel, Bérard--Helffer, Helffer--Persson--Sundqvist for the Dirichlet and Neumann problems. After proving some general results that hold for any value of the Robin parameter $h$, we focus on the case when $h$ is large. We hope to come back to the analysis when $h$ is small in a second paper. We also obtain some semi-stability results for the number of nodal domains of …
This article is the continuation of our first work on the determination of the cases where there is equality in Courant's Nodal Domain theorem in the case of a Robin boundary condition (with Robin parameter $h$). For the square, our first paper focused on the case where $h$ is large and extended results that were obtained by Pleijel, Bérard--Helffer, for the problem with a Dirichlet boundary condition. There, we also obtained some general results about the behaviour of the nodal structure (for planar domains) under a small deformation of $h$, where $h$ is positive and not close to $0$. In this…
We prove that every metric graph which is a tree has an orthonormal sequence of Laplace-eigenfunctions of full support. This implies that the number of nodal domains $ν_n$ of the $n$-th eigenfunction of the Laplacian with standard conditions satisfies $ν_n/n \to 1$ along a subsequence and has previously only been known in special cases such as mutually rationally dependent or rationally independent side lengths. It shows in particular that the Pleijel nodal domain asymptotics from two- or higher dimensional domains cannot occur on these graphs: Despite their more complicated topology, they sti…
Courant theorem provides an upper bound for the number of nodal domains of eigenfunctions of a wide class of Laplacian-type operators. In particular, it holds for generic eigenfunctions of quantum graph. The theorem stipulates that, after ordering the eigenvalues as a non decreasing sequence, the number of nodal domains $ν_n$ of the $n$-th eigenfunction satisfies $n\ge ν_n$. Here, we provide a new interpretation for the Courant nodal deficiency $d_n = n-ν_n$ in the case of quantum graphs. It equals the Morse index --- at a critical point --- of an energy functional on a suitably defined space …
We prove an analogue of the magnetic nodal theorem on quantum graphs: the number of zeros $ϕ$ of the $n$-th eigenfunction of the Schrödinger operator on a quantum graph is related to the stability of the $n$-th eigenvalue of the perturbation of the operator by magnetic potential. More precisely, we consider the $n$-th eigenvalue as a function of the magnetic perturbation and show that its Morse index at zero magnetic field is equal to $ϕ- (n-1)$.
Let $H(\Om_0)=-Δ+V$ be a Schrödinger operator on a bounded domain $\Om_0\subset \mathbb R^d$ with Dirichlet boundary conditions. Suppose that the $\Om_\ell$ ($\ell \in \{1,...,k\}$) are some pairwise disjoint subsets of $\Om_0$ and that $H(\Om_\ell)$ are the corresponding Schrödinger operators again with Dirichlet boundary conditions. We investigate the relations between the spectrum of $H(\Om_0)$ and the spectra of the $H(\Om_\ell)$. In particular, we derive some inequalities for the associated spectral counting functions which can be interpreted as generalizations of Courant's nodal Theorem.…
We introduce a notion of nodal domains for positivity preserving forms. This notion generalizes the classical ones for Laplacians on domains and on graphs. We prove the Courant nodal domain theorem in this generalized setting using purely analytical methods.
In 2001, Davies, Gladwell, Leydold, and Stadler proved discrete nodal domain theorems for eigenfunctions of generalized Laplacians, i.e., symmetric matrices with non-positive off-diagonal entries. In this paper, we establish nodal domain theorems for arbitrary symmetric matrices by exploring the induced signed graph structure. Our concepts of nodal domains for any function on a signed graph are switching invariant. When the induced signed graph is balanced, our definitions and upper bound estimates reduce to existing results for generalized Laplacians. Our approach provides a more conceptual u…
We consider the nonlinear graph $p$-Laplacian and its set of eigenvalues and associated eigenfunctions of this operator defined by a variational principle. We prove a nodal domain theorem for the graph $p$-Laplacian for any $p\geq 1$. While for $p>1$ the bounds on the number of weak and strong nodal domains are the same as for the linear graph Laplacian ($p=2$), the behavior changes for $p=1$. We show that the bounds are tight for $p\geq 1$ as the bounds are attained by the eigenfunctions of the graph $p$-Laplacian on two graphs. Finally, using the properties of the nodal domains, we prove a h…
The paper addresses the the number of nodal domains for eigenfunctions of Schrödinger operators with Dirichlet boundary conditions in bounded domains. In dimension one, the $n$th eigenfunction has $n$ nodal domains. The Courant Theorem claims that in any dimension, the number of nodal domains of the $n$th eigenfunction cannot exceed $n$. However, in dimensions higher than 1 the equality can hold for only finitely many eigenfunctions. Thus, a "nodal deficiency" arises. Examples are known of eigenfunctions with arbitrarily large index $n$ that have just two nodal domains. It was suggested in the…
According to a well-know theorem by Sturm, a vibrating string is divided into exactly N nodal intervals by zeros of its N-th eigenfunction. Courant showed that one half of Sturm's theorem for the strings applies to the theory of membranes: N-th eigenfunction cannot have more than N domains. He also gave an example of a eigenfunction high in the spectrum with a minimal number of nodal domains, thus excluding the existence of a non-trivial lower bound. An analogue of Sturm's result for discretizations of the interval was discussed by Gantmacher and Krein. The discretization of an interval is a g…
The inverse nodal problem for Dirac differential operator perturbated by a Volterra integral operator is studied. We prove that dense subset of the nodal points determines the coefficients of differential and integral part of the operator. We also provide a uniqueness theorem and an algorithm to reconstruct the coefficients of the problem by using the nodal points.
According to Courant's theorem, an eigenfunction as\-sociated with the $n$-th eigenvalue $λ\_n$ has at most $n$ nodal domains. A footnote in the book of Courant and Hilbert, states that the same assertion is true for any linear combination of eigenfunctions associated with eigenvalues less than or equal to $λ\_n$. We call this assertion the \emph{Extended Courant Property}.\smallskipIn this paper, we propose simple and explicit examples for which the extended Courant property is false: convex domains in $\R^n$ (hypercube and equilateral triangle), domains with cracks in $\mathbb{R}^2$, on the …
Courant's theorem implies that the number of nodal domains of a Laplace eigenfunction is controlled by the corresponding eigenvalue. Over the years, there have been various attempts to find an appropriate generalization of this statement in different directions. We propose a new take on this problem using ideas from topological data analysis. We show that if one counts the nodal domains in a coarse way, basically ignoring small oscillations, Courant's theorem extends to linear combinations of eigenfunctions, to their products, to other operators, and to higher topological invariants of nodal s…
For the spherical Laplacian on the sphere and for the Dirichlet Laplacian in the square}, Antonie Stern claimed in her PhD thesis (1924) the existence of an infinite sequence of eigenvalues whose corresponding eigenspaces contain an eigenfunction with exactly two nodal domains. These results were given complete proofs respectively by Hans Lewy in 1977, and the authors in 2014 (see also Gauthier-Shalom--Przybytkowski, 2006). In this paper, we obtain similar results for the two dimensional isotropic quantum harmonic oscillator. In the opposite direction, we construct an infinite sequence of regu…
Given a Laplace eigenfunction on a surface, we study the distribution of its extrema on the nodal domains. It is classically known that the absolute value of the eigenfunction is asymptotically bounded by the 4-th root of the eigenvalue. It turns out that the number of nodal domains where the eigenfunction has an extremum of such order, remains bounded as the eigenvalue tends to infinity. We also observe that certain restrictions on the distribution of nodal extrema and a version of the Courant nodal domain theorem are valid for a rather wide class of functions on surfaces. These restrictions …
We prove two mixed versions of the Discrete Nodal Theorem of Davies et. al. [3] for bounded degree graphs, and for three-connected graphs of fixed genus $g$. Using this we can show that for a three-connected graph satisfying a certain volume-growth condition, the multiplicity of the $n$th Laplacian eigenvalue is at most $2\left[ 6(n-1) + 15(2g-2) \right]^2$. Our results hold for any Schrödinger operator, not just the Laplacian.
We use tools from $n$-dimensional Brownian motion in conjunction with the Feynman-Kac formulation of heat diffusion to study nodal geometry on a compact Riemannian manifold $M$. On one hand we extend a theorem of Lieb and prove that any nodal domain $Ω_λ$ almost fully contains a ball of radius $\sim \frac{1}{\sqrtλ}$. This also gives a slight refinement of a result by Mangoubi, concerning the inradius of nodal domains (\cite{Man2}). On the other hand, we also prove that no nodal domain can be contained in a reasonably thin tubular neighbourhood of unions of finitely many surfaces inside $M$.
The eigenvectors for graph $1$-Laplacian possess some sort of localization property: On one hand, any nodal domain of an eigenvector is again an eigenvector with the same eigenvalue; on the other hand, one can pack up an eigenvector for a new graph by several fundamental eigencomponents and modules with the same eigenvalue via few special techniques. The Courant nodal domain theorem for graphs is extended to graph $1$-Laplacian for strong nodal domains, but for weak nodal domains it is false. The notion of algebraic multiplicity is introduced in order to provide a more precise estimate of the …
We initiate a systematic study of eigenvectors of random graphs. Whereas much is known about eigenvalues of graphs and how they reflect properties of the underlying graph, relatively little is known about the corresponding eigenvectors. Our main focus in this paper is on the nodal domains associated with the different eigenfunctions. In the analogous realm of Laplacians of Riemannian manifolds, nodal domains have been the subject of intensive research for well over a hundred years. Graphical nodal domains turn out to have interesting and unexpected properties. Our main theorem asserts that the…
We consider Dirichlet-to-Neumann operators associated to $Δ+q$ on a Lipschitz domain in a smooth manifold, where $q$ is an $L^{\infty}$ potential. We prove a Courant-type bound for the nodal count of the extensions $u_k$ of the $k$th Dirichlet-to-Neumann eigenfunctions $ϕ_k$ to the interior satisfying $(Δ+q)u_k=0$. The classical Courant nodal domain theorem is known to hold for Steklov eigenfunctions, which are the harmonic extension of the Dirichlet-to-Neumann eigenfunctions associated to $Δ$. Our result extends it to a larger family of Dirichlet-to-Neumann operators. Our proof makes use of t…
We prove two types of nodal results for density one subsequences of an orthonormal basis $\{ϕ_j\}$ of eigenfunctions of the Laplacian on a negatively curved compact surface. The first type of result involves the intersections $Z_{ϕ_j} \cap H$ of the nodal set $Z_{ϕ_j}$ of $ϕ_j$ with a smooth curve $H$. Using recent results on quantum ergodic restriction theorems and prior results on periods of eigenfunctions over curves, we prove that under an asymmetry assumption on $H$, the number of intersection points tends to infinity for a density one subsequence of the $ϕ_j$. . We also prove that the nu…
In this paper, we study conformal invariants that arise from nodal sets and negative eigenvalues of conformally covariant operators; more specifically, the GJMS operators, which include the Yamabe and Paneitz operators. We give several applications to curvature prescription problems. We establish a version in conformal geometry of Courant's Nodal Domain Theorem. We also show that on any manifold of dimension $n\geq 3$, there exist many metrics for which our invariants are nontrivial. We prove that the Yamabe operator can have an arbitrarily large number of negative eigenvalues on any manifold …
We study oscillations in the eigenfunctions for a fractional Schrödinger operator on the real line. An argument in the spirit of Courant's nodal domain theorem applies to an associated local problem in the upper half plane and provides a bound on the number of nodal domains for the extensions of the eigenfunctions. Using the combinatorial properties of noncrossing partitions, we turn the nodal domain bound into an estimate for the number of sign changes in the eigenfunctions. We discuss applications in the periodic setting and the Steklov problem on planar domains.
Generalizing Courant's nodal domain theorem, the "Extended Courant property" is the statement that a linear combination of the first $n$ eigenfunctions has at most $n$ nodal domains. In a previous paper (Documenta Mathematica, 2018, Vol. 23, pp. 1561--1585), we gave simple counterexamples to this property, including convex domains. In the present paper, using some input from numerical computations, we pursue the investigation of the Extended Courant property with two new examples, the equilateral rhombus and the regular hexagon.
The Maslov index is used to compute the spectra of different boundary value problems for Schrödinger operators on compact manifolds. The main result is a spectral decomposition formula for a manifold $M$ divided into components $Ω_1$ and $Ω_2$ by a separating hypersurface $Σ$. A homotopy argument relates the spectrum of a second-order elliptic operator on $M$ to its Dirichlet and Neumann spectra on $Ω_1$ and $Ω_2$, with the difference given by the Maslov index of a path of Lagrangian subspaces. This Maslov index can be expressed in terms of the Morse indices of the Dirichlet-to-Neumann maps on…
Motivated by recent questions about the extension of Courant's nodal domain theorem, we revisit a theorem published by C. Sturm in 1836, which deals with zeros of linear combination of eigenfunctions of Sturm-Liouville problems. Although well known in the nineteenth century, this theorem seems to have been ignored or forgotten by some of the specialists in spectral theory since the second half of the twentieth-century. Although not specialists in History of Sciences, we have tried to put these theorems into the context of nineteenth century mathematics.
We prove a quantitative lower bound on the number of nodal domains of the real-analytic Eisenstein series. The main tool in the proof is a quantitative restricted QUE theorem where the support of the test function is allowed to shrink with the Laplace eigenvalue.
Indian Institute of Technology Madras（印度马德拉斯理工学院）；Institute of Mathematics, Ufa Federal Research Centre, RAS（俄罗斯科学院乌法联邦研究中心数学研究所）；Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Centre for Applicable Mathematics（塔塔基础研究所应用数学中心）
