Estimates for low Steklov eigenvalues of surfaces with several boundary components

Abstract

In this article, we give computable lower bounds for the first non-zero Steklov eigenvalue $\sigma_1$ of a compact connected 2-dimensional Riemannian manifold $M$ with several cylindrical boundary components. These estimates show how the geometry of $M$ away from the boundary affects this eigenvalue. They involve geometric quantities specific to manifolds with boundary such as the extrinsic diameter of the boundary. In a second part, we give lower and upper estimates for the low Steklov eigenvalues of a hyperbolic surface with a geodesic boundary in terms of the length of some families of geodesics. This result is similar to a well known result of Schoen, Wolpert and Yau for Laplace eigenvalues on a closed hyperbolic surface.