Isoperimetric control of the Steklov spectrum

Abstract

Let N be a complete Riemannian manifold of dimension n+1 whose Riemannian metric g is conformally equivalent to a metric with non-negative Ricci curvature. The normalized Steklov eigenvalues of a bounded domain in N are bounded above in terms of the isoperimetric ratio of the domain. Consequently, the normalized Steklov eigenvalues of a bounded domain in Euclidean space, hyperbolic space or a standard hemisphere are uniformly bounded above. On a compact surface with boundary, the normalized Steklov eigenvalues are uniformly bounded above in terms of the genus. We also obtain a relationship between the Steklov eigenvalues of a domain and the eigenvalues of the Laplace-Beltrami operator on its bounding hypersurface.