Critical points of the determinant of the Laplace operator (Q1328306)

The determinant of the Laplace operator is a function on the set of metrics on a compact manifold. The author considers one-parameter variations of metrics of fixed volume in the conformal class of given metric and finds the condition for a metric to be a critical point of the determinant function. Using the formula for the second derivative of \(- \log(\text{det } \Delta)\) and a critical point he shows that the standard metric on the sphere \(S^ 3\) and some flat metrics on 3-dimensional tori are local maxima of the determinant function.