Noncompact complete Riemannian manifolds with dense eigenvalues embedded in the essential spectrum of the Laplacian (Q1733998)

Let $n\ge2$ be an integer, $K_0$ a non-negative real number and $\Lambda$ a finite or countable subset of $[K_0(n-1)^2/4,+\infty[$. This paper aims to build a complete Riemannian manifold $(M,g)$ such that $\Lambda$ is a set of $L^2$ eigenvalues for the Laplace-Beltrami operator $\Delta_M$, all included in the absolutely continuous spectrum of $M$. This inverse problem is solved in the class of complete Riemannian manifolds $\widetilde M$ with a pole such that $\widetilde M$ is isometric to the wrapped rotationally symmetric product $(\mathbb{R}^+\times \mathbb{S}^{n-1}, dr^2+f(r)^2dg_{\mathbb{S}^{n-1}})$ where $dg_{\mathbb{S}^{n-1}}$ is the round spherical metric: the manifold $M$ is built like a perturbation of the euclidean space ($f(r)=r$ with $K_0=0$) or the hyperbolic simply connected space ($f(r)=\sinh(K_0r)$ with $K_0>0$). The first step in the construction is the reduction to a similar inverse 1d-problem for the Schrödinger operator $-\partial^2_{r^2}+V(r)$ on the half-line $[0,\infty)$ by considering the radial functions on $\widetilde{M}$. The second step is the definition of the potential $V$ as sums of compactly supported terms $V_0+V_1$ where $V_1$ is integrable with $\mathcal{O}(r^{-2})$ decay and $V_0$ is of Wigner-von Neumann type [\textit{J. v. Neumann} and \textit{E. Wigner}, Phys. Z. 30, 465--467 (1929; JFM 55.0520.04)], e. g. $V_0(r)=2a\kappa\sin(2\kappa r+\varphi)/r$. The analysis of the eigensolutions $y_\lambda$ with eigenvalue $\lambda$ for the Schrödinger equation $-y_\lambda"+(V-\lambda)y_\lambda$ done by \textit{F. V. Atkinson} [Ann. Mat. Pura Appl. (4) 37, 347--378 (1954; Zbl 0056.08101)] is very useful: these oscillatory eigensolutions are bounded, except when $\kappa^2=\lambda$ where a resonance phenomenon will be crucial for the construction of the eigenfunctions foro $\Delta_M$. The final step is the simultaneous patch of all these potential pieces, keeping the $L^2$ properties for each eigenfunctions with eigenvalues $\lambda\in\Lambda$. The construction is well designed, giving furthermore estimates on the radial curvature of the built metric: for finite $\Lambda$, it is proved that $K(r)=-K_0+\mathcal{O}(r^{-1})$. These new results are complementary, and coherent, to those on the absence of embedded eigenvalues when the radial curvature is strongly asymptotic to the constant $-K_0$, e.g., see the authors' work [Geom. Funct. Anal. 29, No. 1, 238--257 (2019; Zbl 07040587)] and its bibliographical references.