Local version of Courant's nodal domain theorem (Q6200607)

This article establishes upper bounds for the number of nodal domains for eigenvalues of the Laplace operator on Riemannian manifolds without boundary. Precisely, if \((M^n, g)\) is a compact Riemannian manifold without boundary, \(\{u_k\}\) are the eigenfunctions of the Laplace operator on \(M\) and \(B\) is a ball on \(M\), then the number of nodal domains of \(u_k\) that intersect \(B\) is at most \[ C_1\ \frac{\mathrm{Volume}_g(B)}{\mathrm{Volume}_g(M)}\ k+C_2 k^{\frac{n-1}{n}}, \] where \(C_1, C_2\) depend on \(M\). The approach combines sharp Remez type inequalities for eigenfunctions and estimates in narrow domains of Landis type.