Second Robin eigenvalue bounds for Schrödinger operators on Riemannian surfaces

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Antonia, Railane, Cavalcante, Marcos P., Souza, Vinicius
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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_version_ 1866912851278430208
author Antonia, Railane
Cavalcante, Marcos P.
Souza, Vinicius
author_facet Antonia, Railane
Cavalcante, Marcos P.
Souza, Vinicius
contents Let $(Σ^2,ds^2)$ be a compact Riemannian surface, possibly with boundary, and consider Schrödinger-type operators of the form $L=Δ+V-aK$ together with natural Robin and Steklov-type boundary conditions incorporating a boundary potential $W$ and (in the curvature-corrected setting) the geodesic curvature $κ_g$ of $\partialΣ$. Our main contribution is a geometric upper bound for the second Robin eigenvalue in terms of the topology of $Σ$ and the integrals of $V$ and $W$, obtained via a Hersch balancing argument on the capped surface. As a geometric application, we derive sharp topological restrictions for compact two-sided free boundary minimal surfaces of Morse index at most one inside geodesic balls of negatively curved pinched Cartan--Hadamard $3$-manifolds under a mild radius condition. We also prove complementary upper bounds for first eigenvalues in the closed and Robin settings, including rigidity in the curvature-corrected case, and we establish Steklov-type estimates in a coercive regime where the Dirichlet-to-Neumann operator is well defined for all boundary data.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2601_15213
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Second Robin eigenvalue bounds for Schrödinger operators on Riemannian surfaces
Antonia, Railane
Cavalcante, Marcos P.
Souza, Vinicius
Differential Geometry
Primary 35P15, 35J10, 58J50, Secondary 53A10, 49Q05
Let $(Σ^2,ds^2)$ be a compact Riemannian surface, possibly with boundary, and consider Schrödinger-type operators of the form $L=Δ+V-aK$ together with natural Robin and Steklov-type boundary conditions incorporating a boundary potential $W$ and (in the curvature-corrected setting) the geodesic curvature $κ_g$ of $\partialΣ$. Our main contribution is a geometric upper bound for the second Robin eigenvalue in terms of the topology of $Σ$ and the integrals of $V$ and $W$, obtained via a Hersch balancing argument on the capped surface. As a geometric application, we derive sharp topological restrictions for compact two-sided free boundary minimal surfaces of Morse index at most one inside geodesic balls of negatively curved pinched Cartan--Hadamard $3$-manifolds under a mild radius condition. We also prove complementary upper bounds for first eigenvalues in the closed and Robin settings, including rigidity in the curvature-corrected case, and we establish Steklov-type estimates in a coercive regime where the Dirichlet-to-Neumann operator is well defined for all boundary data.
title Second Robin eigenvalue bounds for Schrödinger operators on Riemannian surfaces
topic Differential Geometry
Primary 35P15, 35J10, 58J50, Secondary 53A10, 49Q05
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.15213