Eigenvalues of the Laplacian with Neumann boundary conditions

Abstract

Various grometrical properties of a domain may be elicited from the asymptotic expansion of a spectral function of the Laplacian operator for that region with apporpriate boundary conditions. Explicit calculations, using analytical formulae for the eigenvalues, are performed for the cases fo Neumann and mixed boundary conditions, extending earlier work involving Dirichet boundary conditions. Two- and three-dimensional cases are considered. Simply-connected regions dealt with are the rectangle, annular sector, and cuboid. Evaluations are carried out for doubly-connected regions, including the narrow annulus, annular cylinder, and thin concentric spherical cavity. The main summation tool is the Poission summation formula. The calculations utilize asymptotic expansions of the zeros of the eigenvalue equations involving Bessel and related functions, in the cases of curved boundaries with radius ratio near unity. Conjectures concerning the form of the contributions due to corners, edges and vertices in the case of Neumann and mixed boundary conditions are presented.