We consider the problem of minimizing the eigenvalues of the Schr\"{o}dinger
operator H=-\Delta+\alpha F(\ka) (α>0) on a compact n−manifold
subject to the restriction that \ka has a given fixed average \ka_{0}.
In the one-dimensional case our results imply in particular that for
F(\ka)=\ka^{2} the constant potential fails to minimize the principal
eigenvalue for \alpha>\alpha_{c}=\mu_{1}/(4\ka_{0}^{2}), where μ1​ is
the first nonzero eigenvalue of −Δ. This complements a result by Exner,
Harrell and Loss (math-ph/9901022), showing that the critical value where the
circle stops being a minimizer for a class of Schr\"{o}dinger operators
penalized by curvature is given by αc​. Furthermore, we show that the
value of μ1​/4 remains the infimum for all α>αc​. Using
these results, we obtain a sharp lower bound for the principal eigenvalue for a
general potential.
In higher dimensions we prove a (weak) local version of these results for a
general class of potentials F(\ka), and then show that globally the infimum
for the first and also for higher eigenvalues is actually given by the
corresponding eigenvalues of the Laplace-Beltrami operator and is never
attained.Comment: 7 page