Peierls' substitution for low lying spectral energy windows (Q2301857)

Let \(\Gamma \subset {\mathbb R}^2\) be a regular periodic lattice. Consider a smooth \(\Gamma\)-periodic potential \(V_\Gamma:{\mathbb R}^2 \to {\mathbb R}\) and a smooth \(\Gamma\)-periodic vector potential \(A^\Gamma:{\mathbb R}^2 \to {\mathbb R}^2\) generating a zero flux \(\Gamma\)-periodic magnetic field. Define the periodic Schrödinger operator \[ H^0:=(-i\partial_{x_1} - A^{\Gamma}_1)^2 + (-i\partial_{x_2} - A^{\Gamma}_2)^2 + V_\Gamma\ .\] As a perturbation of the periodic case, the authors consider a 2-parameter family indexed by \((\epsilon,\kappa)\in[0,1]\times[0,1]\): \[A^{\epsilon,\kappa}(x):=\epsilon A^0(x)+\kappa A(\epsilon x),\] \[ A^\epsilon:=\epsilon A_0,\] where the vector potential \(A^0\) of the constant magnetic field \(B_0\) is in the form \[A^0(x)\,=\,(B_0/2)\big(-x_2,x_1\big),\quad B_0 > 0 .\] The magnetic Schrödinger operators are defined as the self-adjoint extensions in \(L^2({\mathbb R}^2)\) of the following differential operators: \[H^{\epsilon,\kappa}:=(-i\partial_{x_1}-A^\Gamma_1 - A^{\epsilon,\kappa}_1)^2 + (-i\partial_{x_2} -A^\Gamma_2- A^{\epsilon,\kappa}_2)^2 + V_\Gamma .\] \[H^{\epsilon}:=H^{\epsilon,0}=(-i\partial_{x_1} -A^\Gamma_1- A^{\epsilon}_1)^2 + (-i\partial_{x_2} -A^\Gamma_2- A^{\epsilon}_2)^2 + V_\Gamma .\] In the previous paper [J. Funct. Anal. 273, No. 1, 206--282 (2017; Zbl 1372.35255)] the authors proved the appearance of a ``Landau type'' structure at the bottom of the spectrum consisting of spectral islands of width of order \(\epsilon\), separated by gaps of roughly the same order of magnitude. These results were proved under some additional assumptions. In the paper under review, the authors prove similar results assuming only that the lowest Bloch eigenvalue of the unperturbed operator \(\lambda_0\) has a unique non-degenerate global minimum value realized for \(\theta_0\) and \(\lambda_0(\theta_0)=0\).