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Pierre Bérard

Publications and source records attributed to Pierre Bérard.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
arXiv2026

Upper bounds on eigenvalue multiplicities for spheres and plane domains revisited

We revisit two papers which appeared in 1999: M.~Hoffmann-Ostenhof, T.~Hoffmann-Ostenhof, and N.~Nadirashvili [Ann. Global Anal. Geom. 17 (1999) 43--48] and T.~Hoff\-mann-Ostenhof, P.~Michor, and N.~Nadirashvili [Geom. Funct. Anal. 9 (1999) 1169--1188]. The main result of these papers is that the multiplicity of the $k$th eigenvalue of the Riemannian surface $M$ is bounded from above by $(2k-3)$ provided that $k \ge 3$. In the first paper, $M$ is homeomorphic to a sphere. In the second, $M$ is a plane domain with Dirichlet boundary condition. In both cases, the starting label of eigenvalues is $1$. The proofs given in these papers are not very detailed. The purpose of this monograph is to provide detailed general proofs for the above upper bounds and to extend the results to Robin boundary conditions. We provide a survey of previous results (Chap.~1), as well as proofs of prerequisite theorems (Chap.~2). When $M$ is homeomorphic to a sphere, we provide a complete proof of the upper bound, $\mathrm{mult}(λ_k) \le (2k-3)$ for any $k\ge 3$, by introducing and carefully studying the combinatorial type and a labeling of the nodal domains of some eigenfunctions (Chap.~3). When $M$ is a plane domain, we consider the three boundary conditions, Dirichlet, Neumann, Robin, and we also study the combinatorial types and a labeling of the nodal domains. More precisely, we prove the inequality $\mathrm{mult}(λ_k) \le (2k-2)$ for general $C^{\infty}$ bounded domains and all $k \ge 3$ (Chap.~4). We prove the inequality $\mathrm{mult}(λ_k) \le (2k-3)$ for $k \ge 3$ under the additional assumption that the domain is simply connected (Chap.~5). These chapters rely on Euler's inequality applied to the nodal graph and a careful analysis of eigenfunctions which optimize Euler's inequality. Chap.~6 contains related results (nodal line conjecture; Courant-sharp eigenvalues).

math.AP↗
arXiv2021

Courant-sharp eigenvalues of compact flat surfaces: Klein bottles and cylinders

The question of determining for which eigenvalues there exists an eigenfunction which has the same number of nodal domains as the label of the associated eigenvalue (Courant-sharp property) was motivated by the analysis of minimal spectral partitions. In previous works, many examples have been analyzed corresponding to squares, rectangles, disks, triangles, tori, Möbius strips,\ldots . A natural toy model for further investigations is the flat Klein bottle, a non-orientable surface with Euler characteristic $0$, and particularly the Klein bottle associated with the square torus, whose eigenvalues have higher multiplicities. In this note, we prove that the only Courant-sharp eigenvalues of the flat Klein bottle associated with the square torus (resp. with square fundamental domain) are the first and second eigenvalues. We also consider the flat cylinders $(0,π) \times \mathbb{S}^1_r$ where $r \in \{0.5,1\}$ is the radius of the circle $\mathbb{S}^1_r$, and we show that the only Courant-sharp Dirichlet eigenvalues of these cylinders are the first and second eigenvalues.

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arXiv2021

One can't hear orientability of surfaces

The main result of this paper is that one cannot hear orientability of a surface with boundary. More precisely, we construct two isospectral flat surfaces with boundary with the same Neumann spectrum, one orientable, the other non-orientable. For this purpose, we apply Sunada's and Buser's methods in the framework of orbifolds. Choosing a symmetric tile in our construction, and adapting a folklore argument of Fefferman, we also show that the surfaces have different Dirichlet spectra. These results were announced in the {\it C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris Sér. I Math.}, volume 320 in 1995, but the full proofs so far have only circulated in preprint form.

math.DG↗
arXiv2020

Courant-sharp property for Dirichlet eigenfunctions on the Möbius strip

The question of determining for which eigenvalues there exists an eigenfunction which has the same number of nodal domains as the label of the associated eigenvalue (Courant-sharp property) was motivated by the analysis of minimal spectral partitions. In previous works, many examples have been analyzed corresponding to squares, rectangles, disks, triangles, tori, \ldots . A natural toy model for further investigations is the Möbius strip, a non-orientable surface with Euler characteristic $0$, and particularly the "square" Möbius strip whose eigenvalues have higher multiplicities. In this case, we prove that the only Courant-sharp Dirichlet eigenvalues are the first and the second, and we exhibit peculiar nodal patterns.

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arXiv2020

An Euler-type formula for partitions of the Möbius strip

The purpose of this note is to prove an Euler-type formula for partitions of the Möbius strip. This formula was introduced in our joint paper with R.~Kiwan, "Courant-sharp property for Dirichlet eigenfunctions on the Möbius strip" (arXiv:2005.01175).

math.GT↗
arXiv2020

Non-boundedness of the number of super level domains of eigenfunctions

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. A related question is to estimate the number of connected components of the (super) level sets of a Neumann eigenfunction $u$. Indeed, in this case, the first eigenfunction is constant, and looking at the level sets of $u$ amounts to looking at the nodal sets $\{u-a=0\}$, where $a$ is a real constant. In the first part of the paper, we prove that the Extended Courant property is false for the subequilateral triangle and for regular $N$-gons ($N$ large), with the Neumann boundary condition. More precisely, we prove that there exists a Neumann eigenfunction $u_k$ of the $N$-gon, with labelling $k$, $4 \le k \le 6$, such that the set $\{u_k \not = 1\}$ has $(N+1)$ connected components. In the second part, we prove that there exists a metric $g$ on $\mathbb{T}^2$ (resp. on $\mathbb{S}^2$), which can be chosen arbitrarily close to the flat metric (resp. round metric), and an eigenfunction $u$ of the associated Laplace-Beltrami operator, such that the set $\{u \not = 1\}$ has infinitely many connected components. In particular the Extended Courant property is false for these closed surfaces. These results are strongly motivated by a recent paper by Buhovsky, Logunov and Sodin. As for the positive direction, in Appendix~B, we prove that the Extended Courant property is true for the isotropic quantum harmonic oscillator in $\mathbb{R}^2$.

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arXiv2019

On Courant's nodal domain property for linear combinations of eigenfunctions, Part II

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.

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arXiv2019

Level sets of certain Neumann eigenfunctions under deformation of Lipschitz domains. Application to the Extended Courant Property

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.

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arXiv2018

Sturm's theorem on the zeros of sums of eigenfunctions: Gelfand's strategy implemented

In the second section "Courant-Gelfand theorem" of his last published paper (Topological properties of eigenoscillations in mathematical physics, Proc. Steklov Institute Math. 273 (2011) 25--34), Arnold recounts Gelfand's strategy to prove that the zeros of any linear combination of the $n$ first eigenfunctions of the Sturm-Liouville problem $$-\, y"(s) + q(x)\, y(x) = λ\, y(x) \mbox{ in } ]0,1[\,, \mbox{ with } y(0)=y(1)=0\,,$$divide the interval into at most $n$ connected components, and concludes that "the lack of a published formal text with a rigorous proof \dots is still distressing." Inspired by Quantum mechanics, Gelfand's strategy consists in replacing the ana\-lysis of linear combinations of the $n$ first eigenfunctions by that of their Slater determinant which is the first eigenfunction of the associated $n$-particle operator acting on Fermions. In the present paper, we implement Gelfand's strategy, and give a complete proof of the above assertion. As a matter of fact, refining Gelfand's strategy, we prove a stronger property taking the multiplicity of zeros into account, a result which actually goes back to Sturm (1836).

math.AP↗
arXiv2018

On Courant's nodal domain property for linear combinations of eigenfunctions, Part I

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 round sphere $\mathbb{S}^2$, and on a flat torus $\mathbb{T}^2$.

math.AP↗
arXiv2018

Sturm's theorem on zeros of linear combinations of eigenfunctions

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.

math.SP↗
arXiv2017

Some nodal properties of the quantum harmonic oscillator and other Schr{ö}dinger operators in $\mathbb{R}^2$

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 regular eigenfunctions with as many nodal domains as allowed by Courant's theorem, up to a factor $\frac{1}{4}$. A classical question for a $2$-dimensional bounded domain is to estimate the length of the nodal set of a Dirichlet eigenfunction in terms of the square root of the energy. In the last section, we consider some Schr{ö}dinger operators $-Δ+ V$ in $\mathbb{R}^2$ and we provide bounds for the length of the nodal set of an eigenfunction with energy $λ$ in the classically permitted region $\{V(x) < λ\}$.

math.AP↗
arXiv2016

The weak Pleijel theorem with geometric control

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 favorite problems considered by Y. Safarov.

math.SP↗
arXiv2015

A. Stern's analysis of the nodal sets of some families of spherical harmonics revisited

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.

math.DG↗
arXiv2015

Courant-sharp eigenvalues for the equilateral torus, and for the equilateral triangle

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 for the right-angled isosceles triangle and for the hemiequilateral triangle.

math.AP↗
arXiv2015

Inverse spectral positivity for surfaces

Let $(M,g)$ be a complete non-compact Riemannian surface. We consider operators of the form $Δ+ aK + W$, where $Δ$ is the non-negative Laplacian, $K$ the Gaussian curvature, $W$ a locally integrable function, and $a$ a positive real number. Assuming that the positive part of $W$ is integrable, we address the question "What conclusions on $(M,g)$ and $W$ can one draw from the fact that the operator $Δ+ aK + W$ is non-negative ?" As a consequence of our main result, we get a new proof of Huber's theorem and Cohn-Vossen's inequality, and we improve earlier results in the particular cases in which $W$ is non-positive and $a = 1/4$ or $a \in (0,1/4)$.

math.DG↗
arXiv2014

On the number of nodal domains of the 2D isotropic quantum harmonic oscillator -- an extension of results of A. Stern --

In the case of the sphere and the square, Antonie Stern (1925) claimed in her PhD thesis the existence of an infinite sequence of eigenvalues whose corresponding eigenspaces contain an eigenfunction with two nodal domains. These two statements were given complete proofs respectively by Hans Lewy in 1977, and the authors in 2014 (see also Gauthier-Shalom--Przybytkowski (2006)). The aim of this paper is to obtain a similar result in the case of the isotropic quantum harmonic oscillator in the two dimensional case.

math.SP↗