A sharp lower bound for the first eigenvalue on a minimal surface (Q1337863)

Let \(M\) be a \(p\)-dimensional minimal submanifold of \(\mathbb{R}^N\), \(D\) be an open subset of \(M\) and \(\rho(D)\) the radius of the smallest ball \(B\) in \(\mathbb{R}^n\) containing \(D\). Denote by \(\lambda_1(D)\), \(\mu(p)\) the first nonvanishing eigenvalue of \(D\) and the \(p\)-dimensional Euclidean unit ball, respectively. The author proves the inequality \(\lambda_1(D)\geq \mu(p)/\rho(d)^2\) with equality iff \(D= E\cap\text{int } B\), where \(E\) is a \(p\)-plane through the center of \(B\). Generalizations to the case that \(M\) is not minimal are also discussed.