Remarks on eigenvalues and eigenfunctions of a special elliptic system (Q1102457)

The authors consider the vector Dirichlet eigenvalue problem associated with the Lamé operator \(L: \underset \tilde{} {v} (A\underset \tilde{} v+\alpha \text{grad} div \underset \tilde{} v)\) where \(\underset \tilde{} v\) is a vector function defined on \({\bar \Omega}=\Omega \cup \partial \Omega \subset {\mathbb{R}}^ n\) and \(\alpha\) is a positive scalar. It is shown that \(\Lambda_ 1(\Omega)\) the first eigenvalue for L on \(\Omega\) and \(\lambda_ 1(\Omega)\) the first eigenvalue for the scalar Dirichlet eigenvalue problem associated with the Laplacian on \(\Omega\) satisfy \((1+\alpha /n)\lambda_ 1(\Omega)>\Lambda_ 1(\Omega)>\lambda_ 1(\Omega).\) It is also shown that the eigenfunction \(u_ 1\) associated with \(\Lambda_ 1(\Omega)\) is not unique and that all eigensolutions are not rotationally invariant. A number of eigensolutions are calculated explicitly and the paper ends with a comprehensive set of bibliographical remarks.