No label defined (Q5285825)

The following Neumann problem is considered: Find \(u\) in \(\Omega\subset\mathbb{R}^ N\), such that \[ Lu= \lambda mu\quad\text{in }\Omega,\quad{\partial u\over \partial n}=0\quad\text{in }\partial\Omega,\tag{1} \] where \(L\) stands for a strongly elliptic differential operator of the form \[ Lu= -\sum^ N_{i,j=1} a_{ij} {\partial^ 2 u\over \partial x_ j\partial x_ i}+ \sum^ N_{i=1} a_ i {\partial u\over \partial x_ i}. \] Under some regularity assumptions on the data, the authors obtain information on the first eigenvalue of the problem. The sign of the function \(m\) in (1) plays an important role in the discussion. The results are similar to those obtained by \textit{J.-P. Gossez} and \textit{E. Lami Dozo} [Arch. Ration. Mech. Anal. 89, 169-175 (1985; Zbl 0585.35075)].