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Luc Hillairet

Publications and source records attributed to Luc Hillairet.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
arXiv2025

Cauchy Data for 1D singular Schrödinger operators

We study semiclassical 1-D Schrödinger operators of the form $Pu = -h^2 u'' \,+\,x^γW(x) u$ on a finite interval $[0,b]$ for $0 < γ\in \mathbb{R} \setminus \mathbb{Q}$. We show that that the WKB expansions of solution can be extended on $[h^{1-ε},b]$, for any $ε>0$. Using a different approximation near $0$ and a matching procedure, we obtain the Cauchy Data at $0$ of such WKB solutions. This allows us to derive singular Bohr-Sommerfeld rules. We also pay special attention to uniformity in $W$ for our expansions.

math-ph↗
arXiv2024

Generic simplicity of ellipses

We prove that the Laplace spectrum of the generic ellipse is simple, both with Neumann and Dirichlet boundary condition. We rely on the known multiplicities in the spectrum of the disk (Bourget's hypothesis) and on a refined version of our method of asymptotic separation of variables. In v1, the statement of prop. 2.1 is correct but the proof is not.

math.SP↗
arXiv2022

Spectral asymptotics for sub-Riemannian Laplacians

We study spectral properties of sub-Riemannian Laplacians, which are hypoelliptic operators. The main objective is to obtain quantum ergodicity results, what we have achieved in the 3D contact case. In the general case we study the small-time asymptotics of sub-Riemannian heat kernels. We prove that they are given by the nilpotentized heat kernel. In the equiregular case, we infer the local and microlocal Weyl law, putting in light the Weyl measure in sR geometry. This measure coincides with the Popp measure in low dimension but differs from it in general. We prove that spectral concentration occurs on the shief generated by Lie brackets of length r-1, where r is the degree of nonholonomy. In the singular case, like Martinet or Grushin, the situation is more involved but we obtain small-time asymptotic expansions of the heat kernel and the Weyl law in some cases. Finally, we give the Weyl law in the general singular case, under the assumption that the singular set is stratifiable.

math.DG↗
arXiv2022

Eigenvalue spacing for 1D singular Schrödinger operators

The aim of this paper is to provide uniform estimates for the eigenvalue spacings of one-dimensional semiclassical Schrödinger operators with singular potentials on the half-line. We introduce a new development of semiclassical measures related to families of Schrödinger operators that provides a means of establishing uniform non-concentration estimates within that class of operators. This dramatically simplifies analysis that would typically require detailed WKB expansions near the turning point, near the singular point and several gluing type results to connect various regions in the domain.

math.AP↗
arXiv2021

Lattice walks confined to an octant in dimension 3: (non-)rationality of the second critical exponent

In the field of enumeration of walks in cones, it is known how to compute asymptotically the number of excursions (finite paths in the cone with fixed length, starting and ending points, using jumps from a given step set). As it turns out, the associated critical exponent is related to the eigenvalues of a certain Dirichlet problem on a spherical domain. An important underlying question is to decide whether this asymptotic exponent is a (non-)rational number, as this has important consequences on the algebraic nature of the associated generating function. In this paper, we ask whether such an excursion sequence might admit an asymptotic expansion with a first rational exponent and a second non-rational exponent. While the current state of the art does not give any access to such many-term expansions, we look at the associated continuous problem, involving Brownian motion in cones. Our main result is to prove that in dimension three, there exists a cone such that the heat kernel (the continuous analogue of the excursion sequence) has the desired rational/non-rational asymptotic property. Our techniques come from spectral theory and perturbation theory. More specifically, our main tool is a new Hadamard formula, which has an independent interest and allows us to compute the derivative of eigenvalues of spherical triangles along infinitesimal variations of the angles.

math.CO↗
arXiv2021

Spiraling of sub-Riemannian geodesics around the Reeb flow in the 3D contact case

We consider a closed three-dimensional contact sub-Riemannian manifold. The objective of this note is to provide a precise description of the sub-Riemannian geodesics with large initial momenta: we prove that they "spiral around the Reeb orbits", not only in the phase space but also in the configuration space. Our analysis is based on a normal form along any Reeb orbit due to Melrose.

math.DG↗
arXiv2020

On resonances generated by conic diffraction

We describe the resonances closest to the real axis generated by diffraction of waves among cone points on a manifold with Euclidean ends. These resonances lie asymptotically evenly spaced along a curve of the form $$\frac{\Im λ}{\log \left |\Re λ\right |}= -ν;$$ here $ν=(n-1)/2 L_0$ where $n$ is the dimension and $L_0$ is the length of the longest geodesic connecting two cone points. Moreover there are asymptotically no resonances below this curve and above the curve $$ \frac{\Im λ}{\log \left |\Re λ\right |}= -Λ$$ for a fixed $Λ>ν.$

math.AP↗
arXiv2020

Small-time asymptotics of hypoelliptic heat kernels near the diagonal, nilpotentization and related results

We establish small-time asymptotic expansions for heat kernels of hypoelliptic Hörmander operators in a neighborhood of the diagonal, generalizing former results obtained in particular by Métivier and by Ben Arous. The coefficients of our expansions are identified in terms of the nilpotentization of the underlying sub-Riemannian structure. Our approach is purely analytic and relies in particular on local and global subelliptic estimates as well as on the local nature of small-time asymptotics of heat kernels. The fact that our expansions are valid not only along the diagonal but in an asymptotic neighborhood of the diagonal is the main novelty, useful in view of deriving Weyl laws for subelliptic Laplacians. In turn, we establish a number of other results on hypoelliptic heat kernels that are interesting in themselves, such as Kac's principle of not feeling the boundary, asymptotic results for singular perturbations of hypoelliptic operators, global smoothing properties for selfadjoint heat semigroups.

math.AP↗
arXiv2017

Hyperbolic triangles without embedded eigenvalues

We consider the Neumann Laplacian acting on square-integrable functions on a triangle in the hyperbolic plane that has one cusp. We show that the generic such triangle has no eigenvalues embedded in its continuous spectrum. To prove this result we study the behavior of the real-analytic eigenvalue branches of a degenerating family of triangles. In particular, we use a careful analysis of spectral projections near the crossings of these eigenvalue branches with the eigenvalue branches of a model operator.

math.SP↗
arXiv2017

Spectral asymptotics for sub-Riemannian Laplacians. I: quantum ergodicity and quantum limits in the 3D contact case

This is the first paper of a series in which we plan to study spectral asymptotics for sub-Riemannian Laplacians and to extend results that are classical in the Riemannian case concerning Weyl measures, quantum limits, quantum ergodicity, quasi-modes, trace formulae.Even if hypoelliptic operators have been well studied from the point of view of PDEs, global geometrical and dynamical aspects have not been the subject of much attention. As we will see, already in the simplest case, the statements of the results in the sub-Riemannian setting are quite different from those in the Riemannian one. Let us consider a sub-Riemannian (sR) metric on a closed three-dimensional manifold with an oriented contact distribution. There exists a privileged choice of the contact form, with an associated Reeb vector field and a canonical volume form that coincides with the Popp measure. We establish a Quantum Ergodicity (QE) theorem for the eigenfunctions of any associated sR Laplacian under the assumption that the Reeb flow is ergodic. The limit measure is given by the normalized Popp measure.This is the first time that such a result is established for a hypoelliptic operator, whereas the usual Shnirelman theorem yields QE for the Laplace-Beltrami operator on a closed Riemannian manifold with ergodic geodesic flow.To prove our theorem, we first establish a microlocal Weyl law, which allows us to identify the limit measure and to prove the microlocal concentration of the eigenfunctions on the characteristic manifold of the sR Laplacian. Then, we derive a Birkhoff normal form along this characteristic manifold, thus showing that, in some sense, all 3D contact structures are microlocally equivalent. The quantum version of this normal form provides a useful microlocal factorization of the sR Laplacian. Using the normal form, the factorization and the ergodicity assumption, we finally establish a variance estimate, from which QE follows.We also obtain a second result, which is valid without any ergodicity assumption: every Quantum Limit (QL) can be decomposed in a sum of two mutually singular measures: the first measure is supported on the unit cotangent bundle and is invariant under the sR geodesic flow, and the second measure is supported on the characteristic manifold of the sR Laplacian and is invariant under the lift of the Reeb flow. Moreover, we prove that the first measure is zero for most QLs.

math.SP↗
arXiv2016

Spectral stability under removal of small capacity sets and applications to Aharonov-Bohm operators

We first establish a sharp relation between the order of vanishing of a Dirichlet eigenfunction at a point and the leading term of the asymptotic expansion of the Dirichlet eigenvalue variation, as a removed compact set concentrates at that point. Then we apply this spectral stability result to the study of the asymptotic behaviour of eigenvalues of Aharonov-Bohm operators with two colliding poles moving on an axis of symmetry of the domain.

math.AP↗
arXiv2015

Quantum ergodicity and quantum limits for sub-Riemannian Laplacians

This paper is a proceedings version of \cite{CHT-I}, in which we state a Quantum Ergodicity (QE) theorem on a 3D contact manifold, and in which we establish some properties of the Quantum Limits (QL). We consider a sub-Riemannian (sR) metric on a compact 3D manifold with an oriented contact distribution. There exists a privileged choice of the contact form, with an associated Reeb vector field and a canonical volume form that coincides with the Popp measure. We state a QE theorem for the eigenfunctions of any associated sR Laplacian, under the assumption that the Reeb flow is ergodic. The limit measure is given by the normalized canonical contact measure. To our knowledge, this is the first extension of the usual Schnirelman theorem to a hypoelliptic operator. We provide as well a decomposition result of QL's, which is valid without any ergodicity assumption. We explain the main steps of the proof, and we discuss possible extensions to other sR geometries.

math.SP↗
arXiv2015

Wave propagation on Euclidean surfaces with conical singularities. I: Geometric diffraction

We investigate the singularities of the trace of the half-wave group, $\mathrm{Tr} \, e^{-it\sqrtΔ}$, on Euclidean surfaces with conical singularities $(X,g)$. We compute the leading-order singularity associated to periodic orbits with successive degenerate diffractions. This result extends the previous work of the third author \cite{Hil} and the two-dimensional case of the work of the first author and Wunsch \cite{ForWun} as well as the seminal result of Duistermaat and Guillemin \cite{DuiGui} in the smooth setting. As an intermediate step, we identify the wave propagators on $X$ as singular Fourier integral operators associated to intersecting Lagrangian submanifolds, originally developed by Melrose and Uhlmann \cite{MelUhl}.

math.AP↗
arXiv2014

Moduli spaces of meromorphic functions and determinant of Laplacian

The Hurwitz space is the moduli space of pairs $(X,f)$ where $X$ is a compact Riemann surface and $f$ is a meromorphic function on $X$. We study the Laplace operator $Δ^{|df|^2}$ of the flat singular Riemannian manifold $(X,|df|^2)$. We define a regularized determinant for $Δ^{|df|^2}$ and study it as a functional on the Hurwitz space. We prove that this functional is related to a system of PDE which admits explicit integration. This leads to an explicit expression for the determinant of the Laplace operator in terms of the basic objects on the underlying Riemann surface (the prime form, theta-functions, the canonical meromorphic bidifferential) and the divisor of the meromorphic differential $df$. The proof has several parts that can be of independent interest. As an important intermediate result we prove a decomposition formula of the type of Burghelea-Friedlander-Kappeler for the determinant of the Laplace operator on flat surfaces with conical singularities and Euclidean or conical ends. We introduce and study the $S$-matrix, $S(λ)$, of a surface with conical singularities as a function of the spectral parameter $λ$ and relate its behavior at $λ=0$ with the Schiffer projective connection on the Riemann surface $X$. We also prove variational formulas for eigenvalues of the Laplace operator of a compact surface with conical singularities when the latter move.

math.SP↗
arXiv2013

Spectral Determinants on Mandelstam Diagrams

We study the regularized determinant of the Laplacian as a functional on the space of Mandelstam diagrams (noncompact translation surfaces glued from finite and semi-infinite cylinders). A Mandelstam diagram can be considered as a compact Riemann surface equipped with a conformal flat singular metric $|ω|^2$, where $ω$ is a meromorphic one-form with simple poles such that all its periods are pure imaginary and all its residues are real. The main result is an explicit formula for the determinant of the Laplacian in terms of the basic objects on the underlying Riemann surface (the prime form, theta-functions, canonical meromorphic bidifferential) and the divisor of the meromorphic form $ω$. As an important intermediate result we prove a decomposition formula of the type of Burghelea-Friedlander-Kappeler for the determinant of the Laplacian for flat surfaces with cylindrical ends and conical singularities.

math.SP↗