Laplace operators with eigenfunctions whose nodal set is a knot (Q281523)

In the spectral geometry of compact Riemannian manifolds, understanding the nodal sets, i.e., the zero sets of eigenfunctions, is important and complicated. For large eigenvalues, both eigenvalues and nodal sets have certain rigidity. One question is whether for low energy eigenvalues and eigenfunctions, especially the first nontrivial eigenvalue, the nodal sets can be more flexible. This paper provides some very interesting results which support such flexibility. The main result of this paper says that for any knot \(\gamma\) in a compact 3-manifold \(M\), there exists a Riemannian metric on \(M\) which admits a complex-valued eigenfunction \(u\) of the Laplace operator for the first nontrivial eigenvalue such that its nodal set \(u^{-1}(0)\) has a connected component equal to \(\gamma\).