Some eigenvalue inequalities for a class of Jacobi matrices (Q921093)

We call \(d_{i_ 1},d_{i_ 2},...,d_{i_ n}\) a symmetric- decreasing rearrangement of the sequence \(d_ 1,d_ 2,...,d_ n\) if \(d_{i_ 1}\leq d_{i_ n}\leq d_{i_ 2}\leq d_{i_{n-1}}\leq... \). In particular, let \(D=diag(d_ 1,...,d_ n)\) and let \(D_ R\) be a diagonal matrix whose diagonal entries are obtained by the symmetric- decreasing rearrangement of \(d_ 1,...,d_ n\). Denote by L the negative of the discrete one-dimensional Laplacian. The authors prove that \(\lambda_ 1(L+D)\geq \lambda_ 1(L+D_ R)\), where \(\lambda_ 1\) denotes the least eigenvalue of the corresponding matrix. As observed by the authors, the result itself might have been derived from the classical continuous results, but the direct proof presented in the paper is of independent interest and enables an easy treatment of the equality case. The authors also examine the gap \(\lambda_ 2-\lambda_ 1\) of two perturbations \(L+D_ 0\) and \(L+D_ 1\) and give some other inequalities for the least eigenvalues of related matrices.