We study the location of the transmission eigenvalues in the isotropic case when the restrictions of the refraction indices on the boundary coincide. Under some natural conditions we show that there exist parabolic transmission eigenvalue-free regions.
Let , , be a bounded, connected domain with a smooth boundary . A complex number , , will be said to be a transmission eigenvalue if the following problem has a non-trivial solution:
where ν denotes the Euclidean unit inner normal to Γ, , are strictly positive real-valued functions called refraction indices. In the non-degenerate isotropic case when
it has been recently proved in [12] that there are no transmission eigenvalues in the region
for some constant . Moreover, it follows from the analysis in [6] (see Section 4) that the eigenvalue-free region (1.3) is optimal and cannot be improved in general. In the present paper we will consider the degenerate isotropic case when
We suppose that there is an integer such that
It was proved in [1] (see Theorem 4.2) that in this case the eigenvalue-free region (1.3) is no longer valid. On the other hand, it follows from [5] that under the conditions (1.5) and (1.6) there are no transmission eigenvalues in , , . Our goal in the present paper is to improve this result showing that in this case we have a much larger parabolic eigenvalue-free region. Our main result is the following
Under the conditions (
1.5
) and (
1.6
) there exists a constantsuch that there are no transmission eigenvalues in the regionwhere.
To prove this theorem we make use of the semi-classical parametrix for the interior Dirichlet-to-Neumann (DN) map built in [10]. It is proved in [10] that for , , the DN map is an DO of class OP, where is a semi-classical parameter such that . A direct consequence of this fact is the existence of a transmission eigenvalue-free region of the form
under the condition (1.2). The most difficult part of the parametrix construction in [10] is near the glancing region (see Section 3 for the definition). Indeed, outside an arbitrary neighbourhood of the glancing region the parametrix construction in [10] works for and the corresponding parametrix belongs to the class OP. In other words, to improve the eigenvalue-free region (1.8) one has to improve the parametrix in the glancing region. Such an improved parametrix has been built in [11] for strictly concave domains and as a consequence (1.8) was improved to
in this case. In fact, it turns out that to get larger eigenvalue-free regions under the condition (1.2) no parametrix construction in the glancing region is needed. It suffices to show that the norm of the DN map microlocalized in a small neighbourhood of the glancing region gets small if and are large. Indeed, this strategy has been implemented in [12] to get the optimal transmission eigenvalue-free region (1.3) for an arbitrary domain. In fact, the main point in the approach in [12] is the construction of a parametrix in the hyperbolic region valid for , , . The strategy of [12], however, does not work any more when we have the condition (1.4). In this case the parametrix in the glancing region turns out to be essential to get eigenvalue-free regions like (1.7). In Section 3 we revisit the parametrix construction of [10] and we study carefully the way in which it depends on the restriction on the boundary of the normal derivatives of the refraction index (see Theorem 3.1). In Section 4 we improve Theorem 3.1. In Section 5 we show how Theorem 4.1 implies Theorem 1.1. We also show that to improve (1.7) it suffices to improve the parametrix in the glancing region, only (see Proposition 5.2).
As in [7] one can study in this case the counting function , where . We have the following
Under the conditions of Theorem
1.1
, there exists a constantsuch that the counting function of the transmission eigenvalues satisfies the asymptoticswherebeing the volume of the unit ball in.
Note that the eigenvalue-free region (1.3) implies (1.10) with replaced by 1. Note also that asymptotics for the counting function with remainder have been previously obtained in [3,8,9] still under the condition (1.2).
Basic properties of the DOs
In this section we will recall some basic properties of the DOs on a compact manifold without boundary. Let Γ, , be as in the previous section and recall that given a symbol , the DO, , is defined as follows
We have the following criteria of -boundedness.
Let the function a satisfy the boundsfor all multi-indices α. Then the operatoris bounded onand satisfieswith a constantindependent of h and.
Let the function a satisfy the boundsfor all multi-indices α and β. Then the operatoris bounded onand satisfieswith a constantindependent of h and, whereis an integer depending only on the dimension.
The bounds (2.2) and (2.4) follow easily from Theorems 18.1.11′ and 18.1.11 of [4], respectively. One just needs to pass to classical pseudo-differential operators by making a suitable change of the variables (e.g. see Section 7 of [2]).
Given , and a function on , we denote by the set of all functions satisfying
for all multi-indices α and β with constants independent of m. Given , , we also denote by the space of all symbols satisfying
for all multi-indices α and β with constants independent of h. It is well-known that the DOs of class OP have nice calculus (e.g. see Section 7 of [2]). The next proposition is very usefull for inverting such operators depending on additional parameters (see also Proposition 2.2 of [10]).
Let,, whereare some numbers. Assume in addition that the functionssatisfy, for all multi-indices,,,such that,, with constantsindependent of h and μ. Then we havewith a constantindependent of h and μ.
Given any real s, we define the semi-classical Sobolev norm by
Using the calculus of the DOs one can derive from (2.4) the following
In this section we will build a parametrix for the semi-classical Dirichlet-to-Neumann map following [10]. Note that in [10] there is a gap due to a missing term in the transport equations (4.11), which however does not affect the proof of the main results. Here we will correct this gap making some slight modifications.
Given , let u solve the equation
where is a strictly positive function, is a semi-classical parameter and , where , , . Given we also set . We define the semi-classical Dirichlet-to-Neumann map
by
where ν denotes the Euclidean unit inner normal to Γ. Given an integer , denote by the Sobolev space equipped with the semi-classical norm
We define similarly the Sobolev space . Note that this norm is equivalent to that one defined in Section 2. Throughout this section we will use the normal coordinates with respect to the Euclidean metric near the boundary Γ, where denotes the Euclidean distance to the boundary and are coordinates on Γ. We denote by the negative Laplace–Beltrami operator on Γ equipped with the Riemannian metric induced by the Euclidean one in Ω. Let be the principal symbol of written in the coordinates . Since the function n is smooth up to the boundary we can expand it as
for every integer , where , , and is a real-valued smooth function. Set
The glancing region for the problem (3.1) is defined by
Let , , for , for , and set . Clearly, taking small enough we can arrange that on . We also define the function , where is independent of h and z. Clearly, in a neighbourhood of Σ, outside another neighbourhood of Σ.
We will say that a function belongs to if and . Given any integer k, it follows from Lemma 3.2 of [10] that
In particular, (3.2) implies that
Since as , it is easy to check that
for every integer k. Since for , and for or , (see Lemma 3.1 of [10]), it also follows from (3.2) that
for every integer and , where if , if . Our goal in this section is to prove the following
Let,. Then, for every integerthere is a functionindependent of allwithsuch thatwhereif, andfor. If, then (
3.8
) holds withreplaced by 1. Moreover, forwe havewhere the functionis independent of allwith.
We will recall the parametrix construction in [10]. We will proceed locally and then we will use partition of the unity to get the global parametrix. Fix a point and let be a small open neighbourhood of . Let , , , be the normal coordinates. In these coordinates the Laplacian can be written as follows
where , being a symmetric matrix-valued function with smooth real-valued entries, , and being smooth functions. We can expand them as follows
for every integer . Clearly, .
Take a function . In what follows ψ will denote either the function or the function . Following [10], we will construct a parametrix of the solution of (3.1) with in the form
where , with if , , and if or , . Here is a parameter independent of h and z to be fixed later on. The phase φ is complex-valued such that and satisfies the eikonal equation mod :
where is an arbitrary integer and the function is smooth up to the boundary . It is shown in [10], Section 4, that the equation (3.10) has a smooth solution of the form
safisfying
More generally, the functions satisfy the relations
for every integer . Then equation (3.10) is satisfied with
where for so that the above sums are finite. Using (3.12) one can prove by induction the following lemma (see Lemma 4.1 of [10]).
We haveuniformly in z and. Moreover, ifis small enough, independent of ρ, we have
One can also easily prove by induction the following
For every integerthe functionsandare independent of allwith.
It follows from (3.13) that for all k. Define now the functions independent of all , , satisfying the relations
, and , . Using (3.4) together with (3.12) and (3.16), one can easily prove by induction the following
For every integer, we have.
The amplitude a is of the form
where the functions satisfy the transport equations mod :
, for , where and the functions are smooth up to the boundary . We will be looking for the solutions to (3.17) in the form
We can write
with
where for . Similarly
with
where for . We also have
with
with
with
where , for so that the above sums are finite. Inserting the above identities into equation (3.17) and comparing the coefficients of all powers , , we get that the functions must satisfy the relations
and , , , , . Then equation (3.17) is satisfied with
Let us calculate . By (3.18) with , , we get
On the other hand, by (3.12) with we get
Using the identity
we can write in the form
By (3.19) and (3.20),
By (3.2) and (3.21) we conclude
The next lemma follows from Lemma 3.2 and (3.22) together with equations (3.18) and can be proved in the same way as Lemma 4.2 of [10]. We will sketch the proof.
We haveuniformly in z and.
Recall that . By (3.13) we have
We will prove (3.23) by induction. In view of (3.22) we have (3.23) with , . Suppose now that (3.23) is true for all and all , and for and . We have to show that it is true for and . To this end, we will use equation (3.18) with and . Indeed, the LHS is equal to modulo , while the RHS belongs to . In other words, belongs to . This implies that belongs to , as desired. Furthermore, (3.24) follows from (3.13) and (3.23) since the functions are expressed in terms of and . One needs the simple observation that
implies
□
It follows from Lemma 3.3 that the function
is independent of all with . We will first prove the assertion for and all by induction in k. In view of (3.21) it is true for . Suppose it is true for all integers with some integer . We will prove it for . To this end, we will use equation (3.18) with and . Since the RHS is zero, we get that the function
is independent of all with . Hence, so is the function
as desired. We will now prove the assertion for all , by induction in j. Suppose it is true for and all with some integer . We will prove it for and all . To this end, we will use equation (3.18) with and k replaced by , . We have that, modulo functions independent of all with , the LHS is equal to , while the RHS is equal to . Hence the function
is independent of all with , which clearly implies the desired assertion. □
It follows from (3.23) that for all , . Define now the functions independent of all , , satisfying the relations
and , , , , , where is defined by replacing in the definition of all functions by . Using Lemma 3.4 we will prove the following
For all, we have.
By Lemma 3.4 together with (3.18) and (3.25) we obtain that the relations
are satisfied modulo . We will proceed by induction. Suppose now that the assertion is true for all and all , and for and . This implies that the LHS of (3.26) with and is equal to modulo , while the RHS belongs to . Hence, belongs to , as desired. □
For every integerthere areandsuch that for allwe have the estimateif,, or,. If,, then (
3.27
) holds with ϵ replaced by 1.
Denote by the Dirichlet self-adjoint realization of the operator on the Hilbert space . It is easy to see that
where if , if . Clearly, under the conditions of Lemma 3.8, we have . The above bound together with the coercivity of imply
for every integer . Indeed, we can write the resolvent as
while the coercivity of implies
We also have the identity
where γ denotes the restriction on Γ, and
where with
By the trace theorem we get from (3.28) and (3.29),
To bound the norm of V we need to bound the kernel of the operator
By Lemma 3.1 of [10] we have
where is some constant. Hence, by (3.15), for we have
On the other hand, by Lemmas 3.2 and 3.5, for and we have
for every multi-index α with some independent of N. By (3.31), (3.32) and (3.33), using that , , on , we conclude
for , and
otherwise, with possibly a new independent of N. Similar estimates hold for the function , too. Indeed, observe that on we have , and hence
with some constant . Using (3.36) one can easily get that the estimates (3.34) and (3.35) are satisfied with replaced by . Therefore, the function K satisfies the bounds
Moreover, since on , in the case when we obtain that (3.37) holds with replaced by and replaced by ϵ. Note now that the kernel, , of the operator is given by
If N is taken large enough, (3.37) implies the bounds
with a new independent of N. When , (3.38) holds with replaced by and replaced by ϵ. Clearly, (3.27) follows from (3.30) and (3.38). □
In the case when , by (3.23) we have
on , and
on . Since for , and for or , , we get
for , , and
otherwise. Hence , uniformly in , for . Therefore, we have
for every integer , where is such that on . In view of (2.4) this implies
for every integer . In view of Proposition 2.3 we also have
By (3.39) and (3.40) we conclude
By Lemma 3.7 we also have
In the case when , the functions vanish on , and hence for . Therefore, in this case the estimate (3.41) holds with replaced by 1 and replaced by .
We are ready now to prove Theorem 3.1. If we put , and if we put
In view of Lemma 3.6, the function is independent of all with . If we take N big enough, we can decompose the function as
where
By (3.39), (3.41) and (3.42) we have
Moreover, if , the estimate (3.43) holds with replaced by 1 and replaced by . We would like to apply Lemma 3.8 with . To this end we take N big enough to arrange that
By (3.27) and (3.43) we get
if . Moreover, if , the estimate (3.44) holds with replaced by 1 and replaced by .
We will now use a partition of the unity on Γ. We can find functions such that and (3.44) is valid with ψ replaced by each , where is defined by replacing in the definiton of ψ the function by . Summing up all the estimates we get (3.8) and (3.9), respectively. □
Improved estimates
To prove Theorem 1.1 we actually need the following improved version of Theorem 3.1.
Let,. Then, for every integerthere are an operatorindependent of allwithand an operatorindependent of allwithsuch thatwhere I denotes the identity. If, then (
4.2
) holds withreplaced by 1.
Recall that by (3.5), (3.6), (3.7), we have that for every integer k, uniformly in and if . We would like to apply Proposition 2.2 with
Using (3.2) one can easily check that (2.5) is satisfied with . By (2.6) we get
if h is taken small enough. It follows from (4.3) that the operator is invertible with an inverse
Since uniformly in z, by Proposition 2.3 we have
which implies (4.1). By (3.27) and (4.1),
if N is taken large enough, where . On the other hand, we can write
where
Clearly, the operator is independent of all with because so is the function . Therefore, it follows from (4.4) that to prove (4.2) it suffices to prove the bound
In view of Lemmas 3.5 and 3.7, we have with uniformly in h as long as . Thus, (4.5) is equivalent to
To prove (4.6) observe that uniformly in h, which yields the bounds
By (2.4) and (4.7) we get
On the other hand, applying Proposition 2.2 with and yields the bound
Clearly, (4.6) follows from (4.8) and (4.9). □
Define the DN maps , , by
where ν is the Euclidean unit inner normal to Γ and is the solution to the equation
and consider the operator
Clearly, λ is a transmission eigenvalue if there exists a non-trivial function f such that . Thus Theorem 1.1 is a consequence of the following
Under the conditions of Theorem
1.1
, the operatorsendsinto. Moreover, there exists a constantsuch thatis invertible forwith an inverse satisfying in this region the boundwhere the Sobolev space is equipped with the classical norm.
We make our problem semi-classical by putting , , if , , and , , if . Clearly, . We set and
We now apply Theorem 4.1 with . In view of the conditions (1.5) and (1.6), we get
for , where
When , the estimate (5.3) holds with replaced by 1. It follows from (5.3) that the operator is invertible for , , and for , h small enough. Hence so is and we have the bound
Now (5.2) follows from (5.4) after passing from to λ and using the fact that the semi-classical norm in is bounded from above by the classical norm in . □
It is worth noticing that it follows from the estimate (3.9) that the operator can be inverted outside the glancing region for much smaller . In other words, to improve the eigenvalue-free region (1.7) one has to improve the parametrix in the glancing region, only. More precisely, we have the following
Let. Then, under the conditions of Theorem
1.1
, there exists an operatorsuch thatWhen, the estimate (
5.5
) holds with χ replaced by 0.
By (3.9) with we have
for . Let be such that on , in a neighbourhood of Σ, and set
We have , and . We now apply Proposition 2.4 with and in place of and . We have
Clearly, (5.5) follows from (5.6) and (5.7) with . □
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