For every hyperbolic surface of genus \(g,\lambda_{2g-2}>1/4\) (Q1035854)

Let \(S\) be an oriented surface of genus \(g\), and let \(\tilde S\) be its universal covering. The authors study the influence of the topology of a hyperbolic surface on the number of its Laplace eigenvalues that are not greater than \(1/4\). The first result of the article is a ``spectral gap'' statement, namely (here \(\lambda_j\) denotes the \(j\)th of the eigenvalues \(\lambda_0 = 0 <\lambda_1\leq \cdots \leq \lambda_j\leq \cdots\) of the Laplace operator): {Theorem 1.} Let \(S\) be compact surface equipped with an analytical metric of strict negative curvature. Then \(\lambda_{2g-2}>\lambda_0(\tilde S)\). A classical construction due to Buser shows that this result is sharp. The authors give a similar statement for finite volume surfaces: {Theorem 2.} Let \(S\) be a hyperbolic surface of finite volume of type \((g,n)\). Then \(\lambda_{2g-2+n}>1/4\).