A comparison of the eigenvalues of the Dirac and Laplace operators on a two-dimensional torus (Q1963834)

Let \(g\) be a metric which is conformally equivalent to a flat metric \(g_0\) on the 2-dimensional torus. Let \(\lambda_1(g)^2\) and \(\mu_1(g)\) be the first positive eigenvalues of the Dirac Laplacian \(D_g^2\) (with the trivial spin structure) and of the usual scalar Laplacian. The authors compute the first and second variation of the spectral functions \(\lambda^2\) and \(\mu_1\). The authors construct deformations so that \(\text{vol}(g_E)=\text{vol}(g_0)\) and \(\mu_1(g_E)<\lambda_1^2(g_E)\) for \(E\neq 0\) small. The authors show that for any local deformation of the flat metric, the first minimal eigenvalue of the Dirac operator is always smaller than the corresponding eigenvalue of the Dirac operator up to second order. (Note that the question of whether or not there exists a Riemann metric \(g\) so that \(\lambda_1^2(g)<\mu_1(g)\) remains open). Let \(\lambda_1^2(g,\ell)\) be the first eigenvalue of the Dirac Laplacian such that its eigenspace contains a representation of weight \(\ell\). The authors obtain an upper bound for \(\lambda_1^2(g,\ell)\) and show that there exist many eigenspinors without zeros; if \(\ell\neq 0\), then the Hamiltonian describing the Dirac equation is a positive Sturm-Liouville operator.