Variational aspects of Laplace eigenvalues on Riemannian surfaces (Q2445832)

Let \(\lambda_k(M,g)\) be the \(k^{\text{th}}\) eigenvalue of the Laplacian on a compact Riemann surface. The author examines the existence of metrics maximizing \(\lambda_k(M,g)\) in a given conformal class \([g]\) where \(g\) is required to have unit volume. General regularity properties of \(\lambda_k\)-extremal metrics are established and the existence of a partially regular \(\lambda_1\)-maximizer is proved. If the boundary of \(M\) is non-empty, Neumann boundary conditions are imposed. Since there can be singular \(\lambda_1\)-extremal measures, regularity questions are non-trivial. In Section 1 of the paper, a general formalism for the variational problem is described. It is shown that the eigenvalues extend to the set of Radon measures. In Section 2, measures with non-vanishing first eigenvalue are discussed. Section 3 treats weak maximizers for the first eigenvalue and Section 4 presents elements of regularity theory. The existence of partially regular maximizers is established in Section 5 and the paper concludes in Section 6 with other related results and remarks. There are two appendices to the paper.