Let $(Ω,g)$ be a piecewise-smooth, bounded convex domain in $\R^2$ and consider $L^2$-normalized Neumann eigenfunctions $ϕ_λ$ with eigenvalue $λ^2$ and $u_λ:= ϕ_λ |_{\partial Ω}$ the associated Dirichlet data (ie. boundary restriction of $ϕ_λ$). Our first main result (Theorem \ref{T:non-con}) is a small-scale {\em non-concentration} estimate: We prove that for {\em any} $x_0 \in \overlineΩ,$ (including boundary corner points) and any $δ\in [0,1),$ $$ \| ϕ_h \|_{B(x_0,λ^{-δ})\cap Ω} = O(λ^{-δ/2}).$$ Our subsequent results involve applications of the nonconcentration estimate to upper bounds for $L^2$ restrictions of boundary eigenfunctions that are valid up to boundary corners. In particular, in Theorem \ref{dirichlet} we prove that for any {\em flat} boundary edge $Γ$ (possibly including corner points), the boundary restrictions $u_h:= ϕ_h |_{\partial Ω}$ satisfy the bounds $$ \|u_λ \|_{L^2(Γ)} = O_ε(λ^{1/4 + ε}),$$ for any $ε>0.$ The exponent $1/4$ is sharp and the result improves on the $O(λ^{1/3})$ universal $L^2$-restriction bound for Neumann eigenfunctions due to Tataru \cite{Ta}. The $O(λ^{1/4})$ -bound is also an extension to the boundary (including corner points) of well-known interior $L^2$ restriction bounds of Burq-Gerard-Tzvetkov \cite{BGT} along totally-geodesic hypersurfaces.
Consider the eigenfunctions $u$ for a ree rectangular membrane wo that $-Δu=λu$ on $\mathcal R(c,d)=(0,d)\times(0,d)$. In this note we show that if if $u>0$ on $\partial \mathcal R(c,d)) then $u\equiv C$ for some positive constant.
We consider the Dirichlet eigenvalue problem on a simple polytope. We use the Rellich identity to obtain an explicit formula expressing the Dirichlet eigenvalue in terms of the Neumann data on the faces of the polytope of the corresponding eigenfunction. The formula is particular simple for polytopes admitting an inscribed ball tangent to all the faces. Our result could be viewed as a generalization of similar identities for simplices recently found by Christianson [1][2].
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 $e_ł(x)$ be a Neumann eigenfunction with respect to the positive Laplacian $Δ$ on a compact Riemannian manifold $M$ with boundary such that $Δ\, e_ł=ł^2 e_ł$ in the interior of $M$ and the normal derivative of $e_ł$ vanishes on the boundary of $M$. Let $χ_λ$ be the unit band spectral projection operator associated with the Neumann Laplacian and $f$ a square integrable function on $M$. We show the following gradient estimate for $χ_λ\,f$ as $λ\geq 1$: $\|\nabla\ χ_ł f\|_\infty\leq Cł\|χ_ł\f\|_\infty+ł^{-1}\|Δ χ_ł f\|_\infty$, where $C$ is a positive constant depending only on $M$. As a coro…
Let $(Ω,g)$ be a compact, real-analytic Riemannian manifold with real-analytic boundary $\partial Ω.$ The harmonic extensions of the boundary Dirchlet-to-Neumann eigenfunctions are called Steklov eigenfunctions. We show that the Steklov eigenfuntions decay exponentially into the interior in terms of the Dirichlet-to-Neumann eigenvalues and give a sharp rate of decay to first order at the boundary. The proof uses the Poisson representation for the Steklov eigenfunctions combined with sharp $h$-microlocal concentration estimates for the boundary Dirichlet-to-Neumann eigenfunctions near the cosph…
We investigate the measure of nodal sets for Robin and Neumann eigenfunctions in the domain and on the boundary of the domain. A polynomial upper bound for the interior nodal sets is obtained for Robin eigenfunctions in the smooth domain. For the analytic domain, the sharp upper bounds of the interior nodal sets was shown for Robin eigenfunctions. More importantly, we obtain the sharp upper bounds for the boundary nodal sets of Neumann eigenfunctions with new quantitative global Carleman estimates. Furthermore, the sharp doubling inequality and vanishing order of Robin eigenfunctions on the bo…
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…
We present a new method for locating the nodal line of the second eigenfunction for the Neumann problem in a planar domain. The technique is based on the `mirror coupling' of reflected Brownian motions.
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…
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）
Recent work of the authors and their collaborators has uncovered fundamental connections between the Dirichlet-to-Neumann map, the spectral flow of a certain family of self-adjoint operators, and the nodal deficiency of a Laplacian eigenfunction (or an analogous deficiency associated to a non-bipartite equipartition). Using a refined construction of the Dirichlet-to-Neumann map, we strengthen all of these results, in particular getting improved bounds on the nodal deficiency of degenerate eigenfunctions. Our framework is very general, allowing for non-bipartite partitions, non-simple eigenvalu…
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.
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.
In this paper, we prove that the Extended Courant Property fails to be true for certain smooth, strictly convex domains with Neumann boundary condition: there exists a linear combination of a second and a first Neumann eigenfunctions, with three nodal domains. For the proof, we revisit a deformation argument of Jerison and Nadirashvili (J. Amer. Math. Soc. 2000, vol. 13). This argument being interesting in itself, we give full details. In particular, we carefully control the dependence of the constants on the geometry of our Lipschitz domains along the deformations.
We study the problem of estimating the $L^2$ norm of Laplace eigenfunctions on a compact Riemannian manifold $M$ when restricted to a hypersurface $H$. We prove mass estimates for the restrictions of eigenfunctions $ϕ_h$, $(h^2 Δ- 1)ϕ_h = 0$, to $H$ in the region exterior to the coball bundle of $H$, on $h^δ$-scales ($0\leq δ< 2/3$). We use this estimate to obtain an $O(1)$ $L^2$-restriction bound for the Neumann data along $H.$ The estimate also applies to eigenfunctions of semiclassical Schrödinger operators.
The oscillation of a Laplacian eigenfunction gives a great deal of information about the manifold on which it is defined. This oscillation can be encoded in the nodal deficiency, an important geometric quantity that is notoriously hard to compute, or even estimate. Here we compare two recently obtained formulas for the nodal deficiency, one in terms of an energy functional on the space of equipartitions of the manifold, and the other in terms of a two-sided Dirichlet-to-Neumann map defined on the nodal set. We relate these two approaches by giving an explicit formula for the Hessian of the equ…
We study the recovery of piecewise analytic density and stiffness tensor of a three-dimensional domain from the local dynamical Dirichlet-to-Neumann map. We give global uniqueness results if the medium is transversely isotropic with known axis of symmetry or orthorhombic with known symmetry planes on each subdomain. We also obtain uniqueness of a fully anisotropic stiffness tensor, assuming that it is piecewise constant and that the interfaces which separate the subdomains have curved portions. The domain partition need not to be known. Precisely, we show that a domain partition consisting of …
This paper reports some novel and intriguing discoveries about the localization and geometrization phenomenon in plasmon resonances and the intrinsic geometric structures of Neumann-Poincaré eigenfunctions. It is known that plasmon resonance generically occurs in the quasi-static regime where the size of the plasmonic inclusion is sufficiently small compared to the wavelength. In this paper, we show that the global smallness condition on the plasmonic inclusion can be replaced by a local high-curvature condition, and the plasmon resonance occurs locally near the high-curvature point of the pla…
We build a one-parameter family of S^{1}-invariant metrics on the unit disc with fixed total area for which the second eigenvalue of the Laplace operator in the case of both Neumann and Dirichlet boundary conditions is simple and has an eigenfunction with a closed nodal line. In the case of Neumann boundary conditions, we also prove that this eigenfunction attains its maximum at an interior point, and thus provide a counterexample to the hot spots conjecture on a simply connected surface. This is a consequence of the stronger result that within this family of metrics any given (finite) number …
Let $Ω\subset {\bf R}^d$ be a bounded open set with Lipschitz boundary $Γ$. It will be shown that the Jordan chains of m-sectorial second-order elliptic partial differential operators with measurable coefficients and (local or non-local) Robin boundary conditions in $L_2(Ω)$ can be characterized with the help of Jordan chains of the Dirichlet-to-Neumann map and the boundary operator from $H^{1/2}(Γ)$ into $H^{-1/2}(Γ)$. This result extends the Birman--Schwinger principle in the framework of elliptic operators for the characterization of eigenvalues, eigenfunctions and geometric eigenspaces to …
Let $ Ω\subset R^2$ be a bounded piecewise smooth domain and $ϕ_λ$ be a Neumann (or Dirichlet) eigenfunction with eigenvalue $λ^2$ and nodal set ${ N}_{ϕ_λ} = {x \in Ω; ϕ_λ(x) = 0}.$ Let $H \subset Ω$ be an interior $C^ω$ curve. Consider the intersection number $$ n(λ,H):= \# (H \cap N_{ϕ_λ} ).$$ We first prove that for general piecewise-analytic domains, and under an appropriate "goodness" condition on $H$, $$ n(λ,H) = {\mathcal O}_H(λ) (*)$$ as $λ\rightarrow \infty.$ We then prove that the bound in $(*)$ is satisfied in the case of quantum ergodic (QE) sequences of interior eigenfunctions, p…
The paper is concerned with the doubling estimates and vanishing order of the Steklov eigenfunction on the boundary of a smooth boundary domain $\mathbb R^n$. The eigenfunction is given by a Dirichlet-to-Neumann map. We improve the doubling property shown by Lin and Bellova \cite{BL}. Furthermore, we show that the vanishing order of Steklov eigenfunction is everywhere less than $Cλ$ where $λ$ is the Steklov eigenvalue and $C$ depends only on $Ω$.
We introduce an analogue of Payne's nodal line conjecture, which asserts that the nodal (zero) set of any eigenfunction associated with the second eigenvalue of the Dirichlet Laplacian on a bounded planar domain should reach the boundary of the domain. The assertion here is that any eigenfunction associated with the first nontrivial eigenvalue of the Neumann Laplacian on a domain $Ω$ with rotational symmetry of order two (i.e., $x\inΩ$ iff $-x\inΩ$) "should normally" be rotationally antisymmetric. We give both positive and negative results which highlight the heuristic similarity of this asser…
On a convex bounded Euclidean domain, the ground state for the Laplacian with Neumann boundary conditions is a constant, while the Dirichlet ground state is log-concave. The Robin eigenvalue problem can be considered as interpolating between the Dirichlet and Neumann cases, so it seems natural that the Robin ground state should have similar concavity properties. In this paper we show that this is false, by analysing the perturbation problem from the Neumann case. In particular we prove that on polyhedral convex domains, except in very special cases (which we completely classify) the variation …
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.
Consider $M$, a bounded domain in ${\mathbb R}^d$, which is a Riemanian manifold with piecewise smooth boundary and suppose that the billiard associated to the geodesic flow reflecting on the boundary acording to the laws of geometric optics is ergodic. We prove that the boundary value of the eigenfunctions of the Laplace operator with reasonable boundary conditions are asymptotically equidistributed in the boundary, extending previous results by Gérard, Leichtnam \cite{GeLe93-1} and Hassel, Zelditch \cite{HaZe02} obtained under the additional assumption of the convexity of $M$.
In this paper we study the behaviour of the Neumann data of Dirichlet eigenfunctions on triangles. We prove that the $L^2$ norm of the (semi-classical) Neumann data on each side is equal to the length of the side divided by the area of the triangle. The novel feature of this result is that it is {\it not} an asymptotic, but an exact formula. The proof is by simple integrations by parts.
We consider a spectral optimal design problem involving the Neumann traces of the Dirichlet-Laplacian eigenfunctions on a smooth bounded open subset $Ω$ of $\R^n$. The cost functional measures the amount of energy that Dirichlet eigenfunctions concentrate on the boundary and that can be recovered with a bounded density function. We first prove that, assuming a $L^1$ constraint on densities, the so-called {\it Rellich functions} maximize this functional.Motivated by several issues in shape optimization or observation theory where it is relevant to deal with bounded densities, and noticing that …
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…
Conductivity equation is studied in piecewise smooth plane domains and with measure-valued current patterns (Neumann boundary values). This allows one to extend the recently introduced concept of bisweep data to piecewise smooth domains, which yields a new partial data result for Calderón inverse conductivity problem. It is also shown that bisweep data are (up to a constant scaling factor) the Schwartz kernel of the relative Neumann-to-Dirichlet map. A numerical method for reconstructing the supports of inclusions from discrete bisweep data is also presented.
In this paper, we study the boundary traces of eigenfunctions on the boundary of a smooth and bounded domain. An identity derived by Bäcker, Fürstburger, Schubert, and Steiner, expressing (in some sense) the asymptotic completeness of the set of boundary traces in a frequency window of size O(1), is proved both for Dirichlet and Neumann boundary conditions. We then prove a semiclassical generalization of this identity.
We consider the inverse boundary value problem of recovering piecewise homogeneous elastic tensor and piecewise homogeneous mass density from a localized lateral Dirichlet-to-Neumann or Neumann-to-Dirichlet map for the elasticity equation in the space-time domain. We derive uniqueness for identifying these tensor and density on all domains of homogeneity that may be reached from the part of the boundary where the measurements are taken by a chain of subdomains whose successive interfaces contain a curved portion.
We show that potentials with jump discontinuities can be recovered from the Dirichlet-to-Neumann map using Bukhgeim's method. Combining with known formulas, this enables the recovery from the scattering amplitude at a fixed energy. We also provide a priori stability estimates for reconstruction from the Dirichlet-to-Neumann map as well as from the scattering amplitudegiven an approximate knowledge of the location of the discontinuities.
We prove that the Cauchy data of Dirichlet or Neumann $Δ$- eigenfunctions of Riemannian manifolds with concave (diffractive) boundary can only achieve maximal sup norm bounds if there exists a self-focal point on the boundary, i.e. a point at which a positive measure of geodesics leaving the point return to the point. As an application, the Dirichlet or Neumann eigenfunctions of Riemannian manifolds with concave boundary and non-positive curvature never have eigenfunctions whose boundary traces achieve maximal sup norm bounds.
We discuss the inverse problem of determining the, possibly anisotropic, conductivity of a body $Ω\subset\mathbb{R}^{n}$ when the so-called Neumann-to-Dirichlet map is locally given on a non empty curved portion $Σ$ of the boundary $\partialΩ$. We prove that anisotropic conductivities that are \textit{a-priori} known to be piecewise constant matrices on a given partition of $Ω$ with curved interfaces can be uniquely determined in the interior from the knowledge of the local Neumann-to-Dirichlet map.
This paper is part of a series concerning the isospectral problem for an ellipse. In this paper, we study Cauchy data of eigenfunctions of the ellipse with Dirichlet or Neumann boundary conditions. Using many classical results on ellipse eigenfunctions, we determine the microlocal defect measures of the Cauchy data of the eigenfunctions. The ellipse has integrable billiards, i.e. the boundary phase space is foliated by invariant curves of the billiard map. We prove that, for any invariant curve $C$, there exists a sequence of eigenfunctions whose Cauchy data concentrates on $C$. We use this re…
Let $Γ$ be a co-compact Fuchsian group of isometries on the Poincaré disk $\DD$ and $Δ$ the corresponding hyperbolic Laplace operator. Any smooth eigenfunction $f$ of $Δ$, equivariant by $Γ$ with real eigenvalue $λ=-s(1-s)$, where $s={1/2}+ it$, admits an integral representation by a distribution $\dd_{f,s}$ (the Helgason distribution) which is equivariant by $Γ$ and supported at infinity $\partial\DD=\SS^1$. The geodesic flow on the compact surface $\DD/Γ$ is conjugate to a suspension over a natural extension of a piecewise analytic map $T:\SS^1\to\SS^1$, the so-called Bowen-Series transforma…
We introduce a new variational principle for the study of eigenvalues and eigenfunctions of the Laplacians with Neumann and Dirichlet boundary conditions on planar domains. In contrast to the classical variational principles, its minimizers are gradients of eigenfunctions instead of the eigenfunctions themselves. This variational principle enables us to give an elementary analytic proof of the famous hot spots conjecture for the class of so-called lip domains. More specifically, we show that each eigenfunction corresponding to the lowest positive eigenvalue of the Neumann Laplacian on such a d…
We prove an analogue of Sogge's local $L^p$ estimates for $L^p$ norms of restrictions of eigenfunctions to submanifolds, and use it to show that for quantum ergodic eigenfunctions one can get improvements of the results of Burq-Gérard-Tzvetkov, Hu, and Chen-Sogge. The improvements are logarithmic on negatively curved manifolds (without boundary) and by $o(1)$ for manifolds (with or without boundary) with ergodic geodesic flows. In the case of ergodic billiards with piecewise smooth boundary, we get $o(1)$ improvements on $L^\infty$ estimates of Cauchy data away from a shrinking neighborhood of…
