Multiplicity of the second Schrödinger eigenvalue on closed surfaces (Q1849642)

The known bound on the multiplicity of the second eigenvalue of Schrödinger operators (i.e. Laplace plus potential) on closed surfaces is improved roughly by a factor 2. This gives four new topological types of surfaces for which Colin de Verdière's conjecture relating the maximal multiplicity to the chromatic number of the surface is verified. For proving this the author defines a space of ``nodal splittings'' of the surface, equipped with a double covering to which a Borsuk-Ulam type theorem is applied.