Spectral bounds for the Neumann-Poincar\'e operator on planar domains with corners

Abstract

The boundary double layer potential, or the Neumann-Poincare operator, is studied on the Sobolev space of order 1/2 along the boundary, coinciding with the space of charges giving rise to double layer potentials with finite energy in the whole space. Poincare's program of studying the spectrum of the boundary double layer potential is developed in complete generality, on closed Lipschitz hypersurfaces in Euclidean space. Furthermore, the Neumann-Poincare operator is realized as a singular integral transform bearing similarities to the Beurling-Ahlfors transform in 2D. As an application, bounds for the spectrum of the Neumann-Poincare operator are derived from recent results in quasi-conformal mapping theory, in the case of planar curves with corners.