On second eigenvalues of closed hyperbolic surfaces for large genus (Q6977176)

Let $X$ be a closed and connected hyperbolic surface of genus $g$. The Laplacian has a self-adjoint extension to functions in $L^2(X)$ and its spectrum is discrete, consisting of eigenvalues \N\[\N0=\lambda_0<\lambda_1\leq\lambda_2\leq\ldots\to\infty.\N\]\NThe zero eigenspace corresponds to constant functions. The spectral gap $\lambda_1$ encodes important geometric and dynamical information about the surface. In this article, the authors study $\lambda_2$ and its relation to the surface geometry. In particular, they study the connection of $\lambda_2$ to the parameter \N\[\N\mathcal{L}_2(X)=\min\{\ell_\Gamma(X):\N\]\N\[\N\Gamma\text{ is a multicurve of simple closed geodesics that separate the surface into 3 connected components}\}.\N\] \NHere, $\ell_\Gamma(X)$ for a multicurve $\Gamma=(\gamma_1,\ldots,\gamma_n)$ is given by $\ell_{\gamma_1}(X)+\ldots +\ell_{\gamma_n}(X)$, where $\ell_{\gamma_i}(X)$ is the length of the geodesic $\gamma_i$ on $X$.\N\NThe first theorem of this article states that $\lambda_2$ is bounded in terms of $\mathcal{L}_2(X)$: \N\[\N\frac{\mathcal{L}_2(X)}{g^2}\prec\lambda_2(X)\prec\mathcal{L}_2(X),\N\]\Nwhere $\prec$ means bounded up to a multiplicative constant. Moreover, it is proven these bounds are essentially sharp, proving the existence of surfaces of genus $g\geq 3$ that have $\lambda_2$ comparable to the upper and lower bounds.\N\NThe existence of surfaces with $\lambda_2\asymp\mathcal{L}_2(X)$ uses a random construction in the Weil-Petersson random surface model using the integration techniques of \textit{M. Mirzakhani} [J. Differ. Geom. 94, No. 2, 267--300 (2013; Zbl 1270.30014)]. In fact, the authors prove that, generically, surfaces of large genus have $\frac{\lambda_2(X)}{\mathcal{L}_2(X)}\asymp \frac{1}{\log(g)}$. That is, \N\[\N\lim_{g\to\infty}\mathbb{P}_g\left(X:\frac{\lambda_2(X)}{\mathcal{L}_2(X)}\asymp \frac{1}{\log(g)}\right)=1.\N\]