Dirichlet eigenvalue sums on triangles are minimal for equilaterals (Q432550)

The aim of this paper is to prove the following theorem. Theorem. Among all triangular domains of given diameter \(D\), the equilateral triangle minimizes the sum of the first \(n\) eigenvalues of the Dirichlet Laplacian, for each \(n\). That is, if \(T\) is a triangular domain, \(E\) is equilateral and \(n \geq 2\), then \[ (\lambda_1+...+\lambda_n)D^2|_T \geq (\lambda_1+...+\lambda_n)D^2|_E \] with equality if and only if \(T\) is equilateral. The case \(n=1\) follows from the well-known result that \(\lambda_1 A\) is minimal for the disk and the elementary inequality that \(D^2/A\) is minimal among triangles for the equilateral triangle, where \(A\) denotes the area of the domain. The first step of the proof is that every triangle is contained in a subequilateral triangle with the same diameter and it follows from the domain monotonicity of the eigenvalues that the eigenvalues of this triangle are lower than those of the original triangle. The main part is to estimate the eigenvalues of the subequilateral triangle by linearly transplanting its eigenfunctions to provide trial functions on the equilateral and right triangles. The eigenvalues of the equilateral and right triangles are known and the eigenfunctions of the subequilateral triangle are unknown therefore this method is called the method of the unknown trial functions. It is also conjectured that, for all triangles, \(\lambda_nD^2\) is minimal when the triangle is equilateral, for each \( n \geq 1\).