Asymptotic expansion of the trace of the heat kernel associated to the Dirichlet-to-Neumann operator (Q2351966)

Let \((M,g)\) be a smooth Riemannian manifold of dimension \(n+1\), let \(\Omega\) be a bounded domain in \((M,g)\) with smooth boundary \(d\Omega\), and let \(\Delta\) be the scalar Laplacian. If \(\phi\in C^\infty(\partial\Omega)\), let \(u\) solve the equation \(\Delta u=0\) and \(u|_{\partial\Omega}=\phi\). Let \(\mathcal{N}\phi:=\partial_\nu u|_{\partial\Omega}\) be the Dirichlet-to-Neumann operator. This is a self-adjoint, first-order elliptic pseudo-differential operator. Assuming \(\partial\Omega\) to be compact, the spectrum \(\{\lambda_k\}\) of \(\mathcal{N}\) is non-negative and discrete; the spectrum comprises the Steklov eigenvalues. The author expresses \(\mathcal{N}\) in terms of the square root of the Laplacian \(\Delta^{1/2}\) on \(\partial\Omega\) and an auxiliary zeroth order operator \(B\) and gives an algorithm for determining the symbols of \(\Delta^{1/2}\) and \(B\) to arbitrary orders in any local coordinate system. The heat kernel of \(\mathcal{N}\) is then examined and the asymptotic series for small \(t\) examined; log terms appear (not unexpectedly) and explicit formulas in terms of curvature are given.