Riemann surfaces with large first eigenvalue (Q5941779)

In this paper the authors show how to construct new Riemann surfaces with large first eigenvalues (with respect to the hyperbolic metric). They start with the principal congruence subgroups \(\Gamma(k)\) of the modular group where one knows that \(C=\inf (\lambda_1 (\Gamma(k) \setminus{\mathbf H}) \geq 3/16>0\) (indeed one now has better estimates than Selberg's estimate \(3/16)\). The method, which is based on geometrical constructions combined with analytical comparisons (based on the Ahlfors-Schwarz Lemma) yields a large number of Riemann surfaces with prescribed genus (and, to a certain extent, also the number of punctures) for which the corresponding \(\lambda_1\) is almost as large as \(C\).