Spectral structure of the Neumann-Poincare operator on tori

摘要

We address the question whether there is a three-dimensional bounded domain such that the Neumann-Poincare operator defined on its boundary has infinitely many negative eigenvalues. It is proved in this paper that tori have such a property. It is done by decomposing the Neumann-Poincare operator on tori into infinitely many self-adjoint compact operators on a Hilbert space defined on the circle using the toroidal coordinate system and the Fourier basis, and then by proving that the numerical range of infinitely many operators in the decomposition has both positive and negative values. (C) 2019 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.