Upper and lower bounds for normal derivatives of Dirichlet eigenfunctions

Abstract

Suppose that $M$ is a compact Riemannian manifold with boundary and $u$ is an $L^2$-normalized Dirichlet eigenfunction with eigenvalue $λ$. Let $ψ$ be its normal derivative at the boundary. Scaling considerations lead one to expect that the $L^2$ norm of $ψ$ will grow as $λ^{1/2}$ as $λ\to \infty$. We prove an upper bound of the form $\|ψ\|_2^2 \leq Cλ$ for any Riemannian manifold, and a lower bound $c λ\leq \|ψ\|_2^2$ provided that $M$ has no trapped geodesics (see the main Theorem for a precise statement). Here $c$ and $C$ are positive constants that depend on $M$, but not on $λ$. The proof of the upper bound is via a Rellich-type estimate and is rather simple, while the lower bound is proved via a positive commutator estimate.