Dirichlet eigenvalues of cones in the small aperture limit (Q2256851)

Let \[ \text{Co}(\theta)=\left\{ (x_1,x_2,x_3)\in{\mathbb R}^3: -1<x_3< 0, (x_1^2+x_2^2)\cot^2\theta<(x_3+1)^2\right\} \] and \(\Delta_{\text{Co}(\theta)}^{\text{Dir}}\) be the corresponding Dirichlet Laplacian. The author studies the eigenpairs of the operators \(\Delta_{\text{Co}(\theta)}^{\text{Dir}}\) when \(\theta\to 0\). It is shown that the problem may be reduced to the investigation of the spectrum of a countable family of two dimensional semi-classical operators (fiber decomposition). The multi-scale asymptotics for eigenpairs associated with the lowest eigenvalues of each fiber of the Dirichlet Laplacian is obtained. The proof is based on the family of their one-dimensional Born-Oppenheimer approximations. The eigenvalue asymptotics involves powers of the cube root of the aperture \(\theta\), while the eigenvectors include simultaneously two scales. The results of numerical experiments illustrating the shape of the eigenfunctions are included.