On the essential spectrum of complete non-compact manifolds (Q537690)

The authors study the spectrum of the Laplacian on a complete non-compact Riemannian manifold \((M,g)\). They generalize a theorem of \textit{J. Wang} [Math. Res. Lett. 4, No.~4, 473--479 (1997; Zbl 0887.58055)] and show: Theorem: Let \((M,g)\) be a complete non-compact Riemannian manifold such that \(\underline{\lim}_{x\rightarrow\infty} \text{Ric}_M(x)=0\). Then the \(L^p\) essential spectrum of \(M\) is \([0,\infty)\) for any \(p\in[1,\infty)\). The authors use a theorem of \textit{K.-Th. Sturm} [J. Funct. Anal. 118, No.~2, 442--453 (1993; Zbl 0795.58050)] to show: Theorem: Let \((M,g)\) be a complete non-compact gradient shrinking Ricci soliton. If the \(L^p\) spectra are the same for all \(p\in[1,\infty)\), then the \(L^p\) essential spectrum of \(M\) is \([0,\infty)\) for any \(p\in[1,\infty)\). Let \(R\) be the scalar curvature and let \(r(x)\) be the distance function. The authors show: Theorem: Let \((M,g)\) be a complete shrinking Ricci soliton. If \(\lim_{x\rightarrow\infty}{R\over r^2(x)}=0\), then the \(L^2\) essential spectrum is \([0,\infty)\).