Eigenvalue estimate for the Dirac-Witten operator on locally reducible Riemannian manifolds (Q6117097)

Let \((M^m,g)\) be a closed connected Riemannian spin manifold. Assume \(M\) to be both reducible and isometrically immersed as a space-like submanifold in some pseudo-Riemannian spin manifold \((\widetilde{M}^{m+n},g)\). Then there is a naturally defined Dirac-type operator on \(M\) called the \emph{Dirac-Witten} operator and whose role in \textit{E. Witten}'s proof of the positive mass theorem [Commun. Math. Phys. 80, 381--402 (1981; Zbl 1051.83532)] is essential. This operator is elliptic and essentially self-adjoint, therefore its spectrum consists of a sequence of real eigenvalues of finite multiplicities. In this context, a new lower bound for the smallest eigenvalue of the Dirac-Witten operator is established under particular curvature assumptions (Theorem 1). That lower bound depends on both intrinsic and extrinsic curvature expressions as well as the splitting of the tangent bundle of \(M\). Assuming moreover the normal bundle of the immersion to be flat, the lower bound can only be attained when both the scalar curvature and the length of the mean curvature vector are constant (Theorem 1). In the particular case where the codimension of \(M\) is \(n=1\), the expression for the lower bound can be simplified and its limiting case be made more explicit (Corollary 1). The article is structured as follows. After an introduction and presentation of the main results in Section 1, algebraic and geometric preliminaries are discussed in detail in Section 2 before the main statements (Theorem 1 and Corollary 1) are given and proved in Section 3.