arXiv subjects

Paolo Tilli

Publications and source records attributed to Paolo Tilli.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

On the existence of extremizers for the sum of eigenvalues of Toeplitz operators

We prove that, among all measurable sets $\Omega\subset\mathbb{C}$ of prescribed Lebesgue measure, there exists a set maximizing the sum of the first $K$ eigenvalues ($K\geq 1$) of the associated Toeplitz operator on the Fock space. In the Fock setting, the case $K=1$ is well known, the optimal sets being balls of prescribed measure, whereas for $K>1$ the existence of optimal sets appears to be new (maximizers are not known explicitly, and the optimality of balls remains conjectural). Moreover, under mild assumptions, our proof extends to localization operators associated with abstract wavelet transforms. In this broader setting, the result is new even for $K=1$. As an application, we prove the existence of optimal sets for the Donoho--Stark concentration problem and its generalization to orthonormal systems.

math.FA↗

arXiv2025

An elementary approach to Wehrl-type entropy bounds in quantitative form

We consider the problem of the stability (with sharp exponent) of the Lieb--Solovej inequality for symmetric $SU(N)$ coherent states, which was obtained only recently by the authors. Here, we propose an elementary proof of this result, based on reformulating the Wehrl-type entropy as a function defined on the unit sphere in $\mathbb{C}^d$, for some suitable $d$, and on some explicit (and somewhat surprising) computations.

math-ph↗

arXiv2025

The isoperimetric inequality for partial sums of Toeplitz eigenvalues in the Fock space

We prove that, among all subsets $\Omega\subset \mathbb{C}$ having circular symmetry and prescribed measure, the ball is the only maximizer of the sum of the first $K$ eigenvalues ($K\geq 1$) of the corresponding Toeplitz operator $T_\Omega$ on the Fock space $\mathcal{F}$. As a byproduct, we prove that balls maximize any Schatten $p$-norm of $T_\Omega$ for $p>1$ (and minimize the corresponding quasinorm for $p<1$), and that the second eigenvalue is maximized by a particular annulus. Moreover, we extend some of these results to general radial symbols in $L^p(\mathbb{C})$, with $p > 1$, characterizing those that maximize the sum of the first $K$ eigenvalues. We also show a symmetry breaking phenomenon for the second eigenvalue, when the assumption of circular symmetry is dropped.

math.FA↗

arXiv2024

The Wehrl-type entropy conjecture for symmetric $SU(N)$ coherent states: cases of equality and stability

Lieb and Solovej proved that, for the symmetric $SU(N)$ representations, the corresponding Wehrl-type entropy is minimized by symmetric coherent states. However, the uniqueness of the minimizers remained an open problem when $N\geq 3$. In this note, we complete the proof of the Wehrl entropy conjecture for such representations by showing that symmetric coherent states are, in fact, the only minimizers. We also provide an application to the maximum concentration of holomorphic polynomials and deduce a corresponding Faber-Krahn inequality. A sharp quantitative form of the bound by Lieb and Solovej is also proved.

math-ph↗

arXiv2023

The generalized Wehrl entropy bound in quantitative form

Lieb and Carlen have shown that mixed states with minimal Wehrl entropy are coherent states. We prove that mixed states with almost minimal Wehrl entropy are almost coherent states. This is proved in a quantitative sense where both the norm and the exponent are optimal and the constant is explicit. We prove a similar bound for generalized Wehrl entropies. As an application, a sharp quantitative form of the log-Sobolev inequality for functions in the Fock space is provided.

math-ph↗

arXiv2023

Stability of the Faber-Krahn inequality for the Short-time Fourier Transform

We prove a sharp quantitative version of the Faber--Krahn inequality for the short-time Fourier transform (STFT). To do so, we consider a deficit $\delta(f;\Omega)$ which measures by how much the STFT of a function $f\in L^2(\mathbb R)$ fails to be optimally concentrated on an arbitrary set $\Omega\subset \mathbb R^2$ of positive, finite measure. We then show that an optimal power of the deficit $\delta(f;\Omega)$ controls both the $L^2$-distance of $f$ to an appropriate class of Gaussians and the distance of $\Omega$ to a ball, through the Fraenkel asymmetry of $\Omega$. Our proof is completely quantitative and hence all constants are explicit. We also establish suitable generalizations of this result in the higher-dimensional context.

math.CA↗

arXiv2022

A monotonicity theorem for subharmonic functions on manifolds

We provide a sharp monotonicity theorem about the distribution of subharmonic functions on manifolds, which can be regarded as a new, measure theoretic form of the uncertainty principle. As an illustration of the scope of this result, we deduce contractivity estimates for analytic functions on the Riemann sphere, the complex plane and the Poincar\'e disc, with a complete description of the extremal functions, hence providing a unified and illuminating perspective of a number of results and conjectures on this subject, in particular on the Wehrl entropy conjecture by Lieb and Solovej. In this connection, we completely prove that conjecture for SU(2), by showing that the corresponding extremals are only the coherent states. Also, we show that the above (global) estimates admit a local counterpart and in all cases we characterize also the extremal subsets, among those of fixed assigned measure.

math.CA↗

arXiv2022

The norm of time-frequency and wavelet localization operators

Time-frequency localization operators (with Gaussian window) $L_F:L^2(\mathbb{R}^d)\to L^2(\mathbb{R}^d)$, where $F$ is a weight in $\mathbb{R}^{2d}$, were introduced in signal processing by I. Daubechies in 1988, inaugurating a new, geometric, phase-space perspective. Sharp upper bounds for the norm (and the singular values) of such operators turn out to be a challenging issue with deep applications in signal recovery, quantum physics and the study of uncertainty principles. In this note we provide optimal upper bounds for the operator norm $\|L_F\|_{L^2\to L^2}$, assuming $F\in L^p(\mathbb{R}^{2d})$, $1<p<\infty$ or $F\in L^p(\mathbb{R}^{2d})\cap L^\infty(\mathbb{R}^{2d})$, $1\leq p<\infty$. It turns out that two regimes arise, depending on whether the quantity $\|F\|_{L^p}/\|F\|_{L^\infty}$ is less or greater than a certain critical value. In the first regime the extremal weights $F$, for which equality occurs in the estimates, are certain Gaussians, whereas in the second regime they are proved to be truncated Gaussians, degenerating in a multiple of a characteristic function of a ball for $p=1$. This phase transition through truncated Gaussians appears to be a new phenomenon in time-frequency concentration problems. For the analogous problem for wavelet localization operators -- where the Cauchy wavelet plays the role of the above Gaussian window -- a complete solution is also provided.

math.CA↗

arXiv2022

A Faber-Krahn inequality for wavelet transforms

For some special window functions $\psi_{\beta} \in H^2(\mathbb{C}^+),$ we prove that, over all sets $\Delta \subset \mathbb{C}^+$ of fixed hyperbolic measure $\nu(\Delta),$ the ones over which the Wavelet transform $W_{\overline{\psi_{\beta}}}$ with window $\overline{\psi_{\beta}}$ concentrates optimally are exactly the discs with respect to the pseudohyperbolic metric of the upper half space. This answers a question raised by Abreu and D\"orfler. Our techniques make use of a framework recently developed in a previous work by F. Nicola and the second author, but in the hyperbolic context induced by the dilation symmetry of the Wavelet transform. This leads us naturally to use a hyperbolic rearrangement function, as well as the hyperbolic isoperimetric inequality, in our analysis.

math.FA↗

arXiv2021

Action versus energy ground states in nonlinear Schr\"odinger equations

We investigate the relations between normalized critical points of the nonlinear Schr\"odinger energy functional and critical points of the corresponding action functional on the associated Nehari manifold. Our first general result is that the ground state levels are strongly related by the following duality result: the (negative) energy ground state level is the Legendre-Fenchel transform of the action ground state level. Furthermore, whenever an energy ground state exists at a certain frequency, then all action ground states with that frequency have the same mass and are energy ground states too. We prove that the converse is in general false and that the action ground state level may fail to be convex. Next we analyze the differentiability of the ground state action level and we provide an explicit expression involving the mass of action ground states. Finally we show that similar results hold also for local minimizers.

math.AP↗

arXiv2021

The Faber-Krahn inequality for the Short-time Fourier transform

In this paper we solve an open problem concerning the characterization of those measurable sets $\Omega\subset \mathbb{R}^{2d}$ that, among all sets having a prescribed Lebesgue measure, can trap the largest possible energy fraction in time-frequency space, where the energy density of a generic function $f\in L^2(\mathbb{R}^d)$ is defined in terms of its Short-time Fourier transform (STFT) $\mathcal{V} f(x,\omega)$, with Gaussian window. More precisely, given a measurable set $\Omega\subset\mathbb{R}^{2d}$ having measure $s> 0$, we prove that the quantity \[ \Phi_\Omega=\max\Big\{\int_\Omega|\mathcal{V} f(x,\omega)|^2\,dxd\omega: f\in L^2(\mathbb{R}^d),\ \|f\|_{L^2}=1\Big\}, \] is largest possible if and only if $\Omega$ is equivalent, up to a negligible set, to a ball of measure $s$, and in this case we characterize all functions $f$ that achieve equality. This result leads to a sharp uncertainty principle for the "essential support" of the STFT (when $d=1$, this can be summarized by the optimal bound $\Phi_\Omega\leq 1-e^{-|\Omega|}$, with equality if and only if $\Omega$ is a ball). Our approach, using techniques from measure theory after suitably rephrasing the problem in the Fock space, also leads to a local version of Lieb's uncertainty inequality for the STFT in $L^p$ when $p\in [2,\infty)$, as well as to $L^p$-concentration estimates when $p\in [1,\infty)$, thus proving a related conjecture. In all cases we identify the corresponding extremals.

math.CA↗

arXiv2020

A minimization procedure to the existence of segregated solutions to parabolic reaction-diffusion systems

We study the existence of segregated solutions to a class of reaction-diffusion systems with strong interactions, arising in many physical applications. These special solutions are obtained as weak limits of minimizers of a family of perturbed functionals. We prove some a priori estimates through a minimization procedure which is nonstandard in the parabolic theory: our approach is purely variational and all the information is encoded in the family of functionals we consider.

math.AP↗

arXiv2020

Uniqueness and non-uniqueness of prescribed mass NLS ground states on metric graphs

We consider the problem of uniqueness of ground states of prescribed mass for the Nonlinear Schr\"odinger Energy with power nonlinearity on noncompact metric graphs. We first establish that the Lagrange multiplier appearing in the NLS equation is constant on the set of ground states of mass $\mu$, up to an at most countable set of masses. Then we apply this result to obtain uniqueness of ground states on two specific noncompact graphs. Finally we construct a graph that admits at least two ground states with the same mass having different Lagrange multipliers. Our proofs are based on careful variational arguments and rearrangement techniques, and hold both for the subcritical range $p\in(2,6)$ and in the critical case $p = 6$.

math.AP↗

arXiv2019

Optimal partitioning of an interval and applications to Sturm-Liouville eigenvalues

We study the optimal partitioning of a (possibly unbounded) interval of the real line into $n$ subintervals in order to minimize the maximum of certain set-functions, under rather general assumptions such as continuity, monotonicity, and a Radon-Nikodym property. We prove existence and uniqueness of a solution to this minimax partition problem, showing that the values of the set-functions on the intervals of any optimal partition must coincide. We also investigate the asymptotic distribution of the optimal partitions as $n$ tends to infinity. Several examples of set-functions fit in this framework, including measures, weighted distances and eigenvalues. We recover, in particular, some classical results of Sturm-Liouville theory: the asymptotic distribution of the zeros of the eigenfunctions, the asymptotics of the eigenvalues, and the celebrated Weyl law on the asymptotics of the counting function.

math.OC↗

arXiv2019

NLS ground states on metric trees: existence results and open questions

We consider the minimization of the NLS energy on a metric tree, either rooted or unrooted, subject to a mass constraint. With respect to the same problem on other types of metric graphs, several new features appear, such as the existence of minimizers with positive energy, and the emergence of unexpected threshold phenomena. We also study the problem with a radial symmetry constraint that is in principle different from the free problem due to the failure of the P\'olya-Szeg\H{o} inequality for radial rearrangements. A key role is played by a new Poincar\'e inequality with remainder.

math.AP↗

arXiv2018

Spectral partitions for Sturm-Liouville problems

We look for best partitions of the unit interval that minimize certain functionals defined in terms of the eigenvalues of Sturm-Liouville problems. Via Γ-convergence theory, we study the asymptotic distribution of the minimizers as the number of intervals of the partition tends to infinity. Then we discuss several examples that fit in our framework, such as the sum of (positive and negative) powers of the eigenvalues and an approximation of the trace of the heat Sturm-Liouville operator.

math.OC↗

arXiv2018

An existence result for dissipative nonhomogeneous hyperbolic equations via a minimization approach

We discuss a purely variational approach to the study of a wide class of second order nonhomogeneous dissipative hyperbolic PDEs. Precisely, we focus on the wave-like equations that present also a nonzero source term and a first-order-in-time linear term. The paper carries on the research program initiated in (Serra&Tilli'12), and developed in (Serra&Tilli'16), (Tentarelli&Tilli '18), on the De Giorgi approach to hyperbolic equations.

math.AP↗

arXiv2018

Dimensional crossover with a continuum of critical exponents for NLS on doubly periodic metric graphs

We investigate the existence of ground states for the focusing nonlinear Schroedinger equation on a prototypical doubly periodic metric graph. When the nonlinearity power is below 4, ground states exist for every value of the mass, while, for every nonlinearity power between 4 (included) and 6 (excluded), a mark of $L^2$-criticality arises, as ground states exist if and only if the mass exceeds a threshold value that depends on the power. This phenomenon can be interpreted as a continuous transition from a two-dimensional regime, for which the only critical power is 4, to a one-dimensional behavior, in which criticality corresponds to the power 6. We show that such a dimensional crossover is rooted in the coexistence of one-dimensional and two-dimensional Sobolev inequalities, leading to a new family of Gagliardo-Nirenberg inequalities that account for this continuum of critical exponents.

math.AP↗