On an isoperimetric inequality for a Schrödinger operator depending on the curvature of a loop (Q816221)

In this paper there are studied several problems concerning the one-dimensional Schrödinger operator \(H_\gamma =-\frac{d^2}{ds^2}+\kappa ^2(s)\), where \(\gamma\) is a smooth closed curve of length \(2\pi\) in \(\mathbb R^3\) and \(\kappa (s)\) denotes its curvature, regarded as a function of arc length. The main results of the present paper are related to an old standing conjecture, which still remains open and which asserts that the lowest spectral value \(e_0(\gamma)\) of \(H_\gamma\) is bounded below by 1 for any \(\gamma\). The authors study a family of curves \(\{\gamma\}\) that includes the circle and for which \(e_0(\gamma)=1\). The main result of the paper establishes that the curves in this family are local minimizers, that is, \(e_0(\gamma)\) can only increase under small perturbations leading away from the family.