Spectral gaps for periodic Schrödinger operators with strong magnetic fields (Q2385980)

Let \((M,g)\) be a closed oriented Riemannian manifold of dimension at least 2. Let \(\tilde{M}\) be its universal cover and \(\tilde{g}\) the lift of \(g\) to \(\tilde{M}\). Let \(B\) be an exact \(\Gamma\)-invariant closed 2-form on \(\tilde{M}\), where \(\Gamma\) is the fundamental group of \(M\) acting on \(\tilde{M}\) by deck transformations. Let \(A\) be a real-valued 1-form on \(\tilde{M}\) such that \(dA=B\), and consider the magnetic Schrödinger operator \[ H^h = (ihd + A)^*(ihd+ A) \] acting on \(L^2(\tilde{M})\). Then the number of gaps in the spectrum of \(H^h\) can be made arbitrarily large by making \(h>0\) arbitrarily small.