Scaling limit for the kernel of the spectral projector and remainder estimates in the pointwise Weyl law (Q500451)

Let \((M,g)\) be a smooth compact Riemanian manifold without boundary of dimension \(d\geq 2.\) We denote by \(\Delta_g\) the non-negative Laplacian acting on \(L^2(M)\) and by \((\phi_j)_j\) an orthonormal basis of eigenfunctions \(\Delta_g \phi_j = \lambda_j^2 \phi_j\) with \(0 = \lambda_0^2 <\lambda_1^2\leq \cdots \leq \lambda_j^2 \leq \cdots.\) Let \(E_\lambda(x,y) = \sum_{\lambda_j \leq \lambda} \phi_j(x)\phi_j(y)\) be the Schwartz kernel of the spectral projection onto functions with frequency at most \(\lambda.\) If \(x,y\) are two points in \(M\) such that the Riemanian distance \(d_g(x,y)\) is less than the injectivity radius, we can write \[ E_\lambda(x,y) = \frac{\lambda^d}{(2\pi)^d} \int_{| \xi |_{g_y}<1} e^{i\lambda \langle \text{exp}_y^{-1}(x), \xi \rangle_{g_y}} \frac{d\xi}{\sqrt{| g_y |}} + R(x,y,\lambda), \] where the remainder \(R\) is a smooth function of \(x,y.\) Now, a point \(x \in M\) is said to be non self-focal if the set of unit covectors \[ \mathcal{L}_x = \{\xi \in S^*_x(M): \text{exp}_x(t\xi) = x \text{ for some } t>0\} \] has measure zero with respect to the surface measure induced by \(g\) on \(S^*_x(M).\) Then, the main result of this interesting paper is the following: Suppose that \(x_0 \in M\) is a non self-focal point and let \(r_\lambda\) be a non-negative function with \(\lim_{\lambda \to + \infty} r_\lambda =0.\) Then, \[ \sup_{x,y \in B(x_0, r_\lambda)} | R(x,y,\lambda) | = o(\lambda^{n-1}), \quad \lambda \to + \infty. \] Here, \(B(x_0, r_\lambda)\) denotes the geodesic ball of radius \(r_\lambda\) centered at \(x_0\) and the rate of convergence depends on \(x_0\) and \(r_\lambda.\) This result extends previous results by \textit{L. Hörmander} [Acta Math. 121, 193--218 (1968; Zbl 0164.13201)] (for the case \(O(\lambda^{n-1}))\), \textit{Yu. G. Safarov} [Funct. Anal. Appl. 22, No. 3, 213--223 (1988); translation from Funkts. Anal. Prilozh. 22, No. 3, 53--65 (1988; Zbl 0679.35074)], \textit{C. D. Sogge} and \textit{S. Zelditch} [Duke Math. J. 114, No. 3, 387--437 (2002; Zbl 1018.58010)] (for the case \(o(\lambda^{n-1}\)) when \(x=y\)), and of \textit{Yu. Safarov} and \textit{D. Vassiliev} [The asymptotic distribution of eigenvalues of partial differential operators. Transl. by the authors from an unpubl. Russian manuscript. Providence, RI: American Mathematical Society (1998; Zbl 0898.35003)] (for the case \(o(\lambda^{n-1}\)) when \((x,y)\) belong to a compact set of \(M\times M\) not intersecting the diagonal). As a corollary, the authors prove that, when rescaled around a non-self-focal point, the kernel of the spectral projector onto the frequency interval \((\lambda, \lambda + 1]\) has a universal scaling limit as \(\lambda \to + \infty\) (depending only on the dimension of M) . Some applications of these result are also given as well as several related results. The method of proof uses the tools of microlocal analysis, in particular, the construction of a parametrix for the half-wave operator.