Spectrum of the Laplacian on quaternionic Kähler manifolds (Q2481035)

Let \(M^{4n}\) be a complete quaternionic Kähler manifold with scalar curvature bounded below by \(-16n(n+2)\). The authors get a sharp estimate for the first eigenvalue \(\lambda_1(M)\) of the Laplacian, which is \(\lambda_1(M) \leq (2n+1)^2\). This result corresponds to an analogous theorem of \textit{S.-Y. Cheng} [Math. Z. 143, 289--297 (1975; Zbl 0329.53035)] for a complete Riemannian manifold, and of \textit{P. Li} and \textit{J. Wang} [J. Differ. Geom. 69, No. 1, 43--74 (2005; Zbl 1087.53067)] for a complete Kähler manifold. The authors show that if the equality holds, then either \(M\) has only one end or \(M\) is diffeomorphic to \(\mathbb R \times N\) with \(N\) given by a compact manifold. Moreover, if \(M\) is of bounded curvature, then \(M\) is covered by the quaternionic hyperbolic space \(\mathbb{Q}\mathbb{H}^n\) and \(N\) is a compact quotient of the generalized Heisenberg group. When \(\lambda_1(M) \geq \frac{8(n+2)}{3}\), the authors prove that \(M\) must have only one end with infinite volume. These results correspond to analogous theorems of \textit{P. Li} and \textit{J. Wang} [J. Differ. Geom. 58, No. 3, 501--534 (2001; Zbl 1032.58016) and J. Differ. Geom. 62, No. 1, 143--162 (2002; Zbl 1073.58023)] for a complete Riemannian manifold, and of Li and Wang [loc. cit.] and [Connectedness at infinity of complete Kähler manifolds (preprint)] for a complete Kähler manifold.