We discuss possible topological configurations of nodal sets, in particular the number of their components, for spherical harmonics on S^2. We also construct a solution of the equation Delta u=u in R^2 that has only two nodal domains. This equation arises in the study of high energy eigenfunctions.
We study solutions of uniformly elliptic PDE with Lipschitz leading coefficients and bounded lower order coefficients. We extend previous results of A. Logunov concerning nodal sets of harmonic functions and, in particular, prove polynomial upper bounds on interior nodal sets of Steklov eigenfunctions in terms of the corresponding eigenvalue $ λ$.
We investigate the interior nodal sets $\mathcal{N}_λ$ of Steklov eigenfunctions on connected and compact surfaces with boundary. The optimal vanishing order of Steklov eigenfunctions is shown be $Cλ$. The singular sets $\mathcal{S}_λ$ are finite points on the nodal sets. We are able to prove that the Hausdorff measure $H^0(\mathcal{S}_λ)\leq Cλ^2$. Furthermore, we obtain an upper bound for the measure of interior nodal sets $H^1(\mathcal{N}_λ)\leq Cλ^{\frac{3}{2}}$. Here those positive constants $C$ depend only on the surfaces.
We investigate the geometric properties of Steklov eigenfunctions in smooth manifolds. We derive the refined doubling estimates and Bernstein's inequalities. For the real analytic manifolds, we are able to obtain the sharp upper bound for the measure of interior nodal sets.
The nodal set of the Laplacian eigenfunction has co-dimension one and has finite hypersurface measure on a compact Riemannian manifold. In this paper, we investigate the distribution of the nodal sets of eigenfunctions, when the metric on the manifold is analytic. We prove that if the eigenfunctions are equidistributed at a small scale, then the weak limits of the hypersurface volume form of their nodal sets are comparable to the volume form on the manifold. In particular, on the negatively curved manifolds with analytic metric and on the tori, we show that in any eigenbasis, there is a full d…
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 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 consider two-dimensional Schrödinger operators in bounded domains. We analyze relations between nodal domains of eigenfunctions, spectral minimal partitions and spectral properties of the corresponding operator. The main results concern the existence and regularity of the minimal partitions associated with the nodal sets as the nodal domains of Courant-sharp eigenfunctions.
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 paper, we study conformal invariants that arise from nodal sets and negative eigenvalues of conformally covariant operators on manifolds with boundary. We also consider applications to curvature prescription problems on manifolds with boundary. We relate Dirichlet and Neumann eigenvalues and put the results developed here for the Escobar problem into the more general framework of boundary operators of arbitrary order.
We use the Dong-Sogge-Zelditch formula to obtain a lower bound for the volume of the nodal sets of eigenfunctions. Our result improves the recent results of Sogge-Zelditch and in dimensions n \leq 5 gives a new proof for the lower bounds of Colding-Minicozzi.
Recently, Sogge-Zelditch and Colding-Minicozzi gave new power law lower bounds on the size of the nodal sets of eigenfunctions. The purpose of this short note is to point out a third method to obtain a power law lower bound on the volume of the nodal sets. Our method is based on the Donnelly-Fefferman growth bound for eigenfunctions and a growth vs. volume relation we proved in a previous work.
This is a survey of recent results on eigenfunctions of the Laplacian on compact Riemannian manifolds and their nodal sets. It is the write-up of my talk at JDG 2011.
We find new polynomial upper bounds for the size of nodal sets of eigenfunctions when the Riemannian manifold has a Gevrey or quasianalytic regularity.
This article concerns the asymptotic geometric character of the nodal set of the eigenfunctions of the Steklov eigenvalue problem $$ -Δϕ_{σ_j}=0,\quad\text{ on }Ω,\qquad\qquad \partial_νϕ_{σ_j}=σ_j ϕ_{σ_j}\quad \text{ on }\partialΩ$$ in two-dimensional domains $Ω$. In particular, this paper presents a dense family $\mathcal{A}$ of simply-connected two-dimensional domains with analytic boundaries such that, for each $Ω\in \mathcal{A}$, the nodal set of the eigenfunction $ϕ_{σ_j}$ "is $not$ dense at scale $σ_j^{-1}$". This result addresses a question put forth under "Open Problem 10" in Girouard…
We give an example of a domain in dimension $N \geq 3$, homeomorphic to a ball and with analytic boundary, for which the second eigenvalue of the Dirichlet Laplacian has an eigenfunction with a closed nodal surface. The domain is constructed via a sequence of perturbations of the domain of S. Fournais [J. Differential Equations \textbf{173} (2001), 145-159].
In this note, we discuss a question posed by T. Hoffmann-Ostenhof concerning the parity of the number of nodal domains for a non-constant eigenfunction of the Laplacian on flat tori. We present two results. We first show that on the torus $(\mathbb{R}/2π\mathbb{Z})^{2}$, a non-constant eigenfunction has an even number of nodal domains. We then consider the torus $(\mathbb{R}/2π\mathbb{Z})\times(\mathbb{R}/2ρπ\mathbb{Z})\,$, with $ρ=\frac{1}{\sqrt{3}}\,$, and construct on it an eigenfunction with three nodal domains.
We show the existence of simply-connected unbounded planar domains for which the second nodal line of the Dirichlet Laplacian does not touch the boundary.
We study properties of the nodal sets of high frequency eigenfunctions and quasimodes for radial perturbations of the Harmonic Oscillator. In particular, we consider nodal sets on spheres of large radius (in the classically forbidden region) for quasimodes with energies lying in intervals around a fixed energy $E$. For well chosen intervals we show that these nodal sets exhibit quantitatively different behavior compared to those of the unperturbed Harmonic Oscillator. These energy intervals are defined via a careful analysis of the eigenvalue spacings for the perturbed operator, based on analy…
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.
Let M either be a closed real analytic Riemannian manifold or a closed smooth Riemannian surface. We estimate from below the volume of a nodal domain component in an arbitrary ball provided that this component enters the ball deeply enough.
This article concerns the number of nodal domains of eigenfunctions of the Laplacian on special Riemannian $3$-manifolds, namely nontrivial principal $S^1$ bundles $P \to X$ over Riemann surfaces equipped with certain $S^1$ invariant metrics, the Kaluza-Klein metrics. We prove for generic Kaluza-Klein metrics that any Laplacian eigenfunction has exactly two nodal domains unless it is invariant under the $S^1$ action. We also construct an explicit orthonormal eigenbasis on the flat $3$-torus $\mathbb{T}^3$ for which every non-constant eigenfunction belonging to the basis has two nodal domains.
In this note, we consider a fixed vector field $V$ on $S^2$ and study the distribution of points which lie on the nodal set (of a random spherical harmonic) where $V$ is also tangent. We show that the expected value of the corresponding counting function is asymptotic to the eigenvalue with a leading coefficient that is independent of the vector field $V$. This demonstrates, in some form, a universality for vector fields up to lower order terms.
This note concerns the nodal sets of eigenfunctions of semiclassical Schrödinger operators acting on compact, smooth, Riemannian manifolds, with no boundary. We prove that if H is a separating hypersurface that lies inside the classically forbidden region, then H cannot persist as a component of the zero set of infinitely many eigenfunctions. In addition, on real analytic surfaces, we obtain sharp upper bounds for the number of intersections of the zero sets of the Schrödinger eigenfunctions with a fixed curve that lies inside the classically forbidden region.
We consider the zeros on the boundary $\partial Ω$ of a Neumann eigenfunction $ϕ_λ$ of a real analytic plane domain $Ω$. We prove that the number of its boundary zeros is $O (λ)$ where $-Δϕ_λ = λ^2 ϕ_λ$. We also prove that the number of boundary critical points of either a Neumann or Dirichlet eigenfunction is $O(λ)$. It follows that the number of nodal lines of $ϕ_λ$ (components of the nodal set) which touch the boundary is of order $λ$. This upper bound is of the same order of magnitude as the length of the total nodal line, but is the square root of the Courant bound on the number of nodal …
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.
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…
Let a torus $T$ act freely on a closed manifold $M$ of dimension at least two. We demonstrate that, for a generic $T$-invariant Riemannian metric $g$ on $M$, each real $Δ_g$-eigenspace is an irreducible real representation of $T$ and, therefore, has dimension at most two. We also show that, for the generic $T$-invariant metric on $M$, if $u$ is a non-invariant real-valued $Δ_g$-eigenfunction that vanishes on some $T$-orbit, then the nodal set of $u$ is a connected smooth hypersurface whose complement has exactly two connected components.
Let M be a closed Riemannian manifold of dimension n. Let f be an eigenfunction of the Laplace-Beltrami operator corresponding to an eigenvalue λ. We show that the volume of {f>0} inside any ball B whose center lies on {f=0} is > C|B|/λ^n. We apply this result to prove that each nodal domain contains a ball of radius > C/λ^n.
We show that, in round spheres of dimension $n\geq3$, for any given collection of codimension 2 smooth submanifolds $\mathfrak{S}:=\{Σ_1,...,Σ_N\}$ of arbitrarily complicated topology ($N$ being the complex dimension of the spinor bundle), there is always an eigenfunction $ψ=(ψ_1,...,ψ_N)$ of the Dirac operator such that each submanifold $Σ_a$, modulo ambient diffeomorphism, is a structurally stable nodal set of the spinor component $ψ_a$. The result holds for any choice of trivialization of the spinor bundle. The emergence of these structures takes place at small scales and sufficiently high …
Let $(Ω, g)$ be a real analytic Riemannian manifold with real analytic boundary $\partial Ω$. Let $ψ_λ$ be an eigenfunction of the Dirichlet-to-Neumann operator $Λ$ of $(Ω, g, \partial Ω)$ of eigenvalue $λ$. Let $\mathcal N_{λ_j}$ be its nodal set. Then $\mathcal H^{n-2} (\mathcal N_λ) \leq C_{g, Ω} λ.$ This proves a conjecture of F. H. Lin and K. Bellova.
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…
We give upper and lower bounds on the volume of a tubular neighborhood of the nodal set of an eigenfunction of the Laplacian on a real analytic closed Riemannian manifold M. As an application we consider the question of approximating points on M by nodal sets, and explore analogy with approximation by rational numbers.
We estimate the volume of superlevel sets of Laplace-Beltrami eigenfunctions on a compact Riemannian manifold. The proof uses the Green's function representation and the Bathtub principle. As an application, we obtain upper bounds on the distribution of the extrema of a Laplace-Beltrami eigenfunction over its nodal domains. Such bounds have been previously proved by L. Polterovich and M. Sodin in the case of compact surfaces. Our techniques allow to generalize these results to arbitrary dimensions. We also discuss a different approach to the problem based on reverse Hölder inequalities due to …
It is shown that the topologies and nestings of the zero and nodal sets of random (Gaussian) band limited functions have universal laws of distribution. Qualitative features of the supports of these distributions are determined. In particular the results apply to random monochromatic waves and to random real algebraic hyper-surfaces in projective space.
We investigate nodal sets of magnetic Schroedinger operators with zero magnetic field, acting on a non simply connected domain in $\r^2$. For the case of circulation 1/2 of the magnetic vector potential around each hole in the region, we obtain a charactisation of the nodal set, and use this to obtain bounds on the multiplicity of the groundstate. For the case of one hole and a fixed electric potential, we show that the first eigenvalue takes its highest value for circulation 1/2.
In this paper, we revisit the analyses of Antonie Stern (1925) and Hans Lewy (1977) devoted to the construction of spherical harmonics with two or three nodal domains. Our method yields sharp quantitative results and a better understanding of the occurrence of bifurcations in the families of nodal sets.This paper is a natural continuation of our critical reading of A. Stern's results for Dirichlet eigenfunctions in the square, see arXiv:14026054.
The goal of this article is to draw new applications of small scale quantum ergodicity in nodal sets of eigenfunctions. We show that if quantum ergodicity holds on balls of shrinking radius $r(λ) \to 0$, then one can achieve improvements on the recent upper bounds of Logunov and Logunov-Malinnikova on the size of nodal sets, according to a certain power of $r(λ)$. We also show that the order of vanishing results of Donnelly-Fefferman and Dong can be improved. Since by the results of Han and Hezari-Rivière small scale QE holds on negatively curved manifolds at logarithmically shrinking rates, w…
For small range of $p>2$, we improve the $L^p$ bounds of eigenfunctions of the Laplacian on negatively curved manifolds. Our improvement is by a power of logarithm for a full density sequence of eigenfunctions. We also derive improvements on the size of the nodal sets. Our proof is based on a quantum ergodicity property of independent interest, which holds for families of symbols supported in balls whose radius shrinks at a logarithmic rate.
This paper is concerned with the location of nodal sets of eigenfunctions of the Dirichlet Laplacian in thin tubular neighbourhoods of hypersurfaces of the Euclidean space of arbitrary dimension. In the limit when the radius of the neighbourhood tends to zero, it is known that spectral properties of the Laplacian are approximated well by an effective Schrödinger operator on the hypersurface with a potential expressed solely in terms of principal curvatures. By applying techniques of elliptic partial differential equations, we strengthen the known perturbation results to get a convergence of ei…
Let $Σ$ be an oriented compact hypersurface in the round sphere $\mathbb{S}^n$ or in the flat torus $\mathbb{T}^n$, $n\geq 3$. In the case of the torus, $Σ$ is further assumed to be contained in a contractible subset of $\mathbb{T}^n$. We show that for any sufficiently large enough odd integer $N$ there exists an eigenfunctions $ψ$ of the Laplacian on $\mathbb{S}^n$ or $\mathbb{T}^n$ satisfying $Δψ=-λψ$ (with $λ=N(N+n-1)$ or $N^2$ on $\mathbb{S}^n$ or $\mathbb{T}^n$, respectively), and with a connected component of the nodal set of $ψ$ given by~$Σ$, up to an ambient diffeomorphism.
We prove sharp $L^p$ estimates for the Steklov eigenfunctions on compact manifolds with boundary in terms of their $L^2$ norms on the boundary. We prove it by establishing $L^p$ bounds for the harmonic extension operators as well as the spectral projection operators on the boundary. Moreover, we derive lower bounds on the size of nodal sets for a variation of the Steklov spectral problem. We consider a generalized version of the Steklov problem by adding a non-smooth potential on the boundary but some of our results are new even without potential.
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.
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 …
We prove Polterovich's conjecture concerning the growth of the number of nodal domains for eigenfunctions on a unit square domain, under the assumption that the eigenfunctions do not have any singular points.
We consider the the intersections of the complex nodal set of the analytic continuation of an eigenfunction of the Laplacian on a real analytic surface with the complexification of a geodesic. We prove that if the geodesic flow is ergodic and if the geodesic is periodic and satisfies a generic asymmetry condition, then the intersection points condense along the real geodesic and become uniformly distributed with respect to its arc-length. We prove an analogous result for non-periodic geodesics except that the `origin' is allowed to move with $λ_j$. The proof uses the quantum ergodic restrictio…
We study the asymptotic properties of the conormal cycle of nodal sets associated to a random superposition of eigenfunctions of the Laplacian on a smooth compact Riemannian manifold without boundary. In the case where the dimension is odd, we show that the expectation of the corresponding current of integration equidistributes on the fibers of the cotangent bundle. In the case where the dimension is even, we obtain an upper bound of lower order on the expectation. Using recent results of Alesker, we also deduce some properties on the asymptotic expectation of any smooth valuation including th…
Let X be a manifold equipped with a complete Riemannian metric of constant negative curvature and finite volume. We demonstrate the finiteness of the collection of totally geodesic immersed hypersurfaces in X that lie in the zero-level set of some Laplace eigenfunction. For surfaces, we show that the number can be bounded just in terms of the area of the surface. We also provide constructions of geodesics in hyperbolic surfaces that lie in a nodal set but that do not lie in the fixed point set of a reflection symmetry.
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.
We discuss the asymptotic lower bound on the inner radius of nodal domains that arise from Laplacian eigenfunctions $ ϕ_λ$ on a closed Riemannian manifold $ (M,g) $. First, in the real-analytic case we present an improvement of the currently best known bounds, due to Mangoubi (\cite{Man1}). Furthermore, using recent results of Hezari (\cite{Hezari}, \cite{Hezari2}) we obtain $ \log $-type improvements in the case of negative curvature and improved bounds for $ (M,g) $ possessing an ergodic geodesic flow. Second, we discuss the relation between the distribution of the $ L^2 $ norm of an eigenfu…
We consider a Laplace eigenfunction $φ_λ$ on a smooth closed Riemannian manifold, that is, satisfying $-Δφ_λ= λφ_λ$. We introduce several observations about the geometry of its vanishing (nodal) set and corresponding nodal domains. First, we give asymptotic upper and lower bounds on the volume of a tubular neighbourhood around the nodal set of $φ_λ$. This extends previous work of Jakobson and Mangoubi in case $ (M, g) $ is real-analytic. A significant ingredient in our discussion are some recent techniques due to Logunov (cf. \cite{L1}). Second, we exhibit some remarks related to the asymptoti…
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.