Spectral gaps for periodic Schrödinger operators with strong magnetic fields

Abstract

We consider Schrödinger operators $H^h = (ih d+{\bf A})^* (ih d+{\bf A})$ with the periodic magnetic field ${\bf B}=d{\bf A}$ on covering spaces of compact manifolds. Under some assumptions on $\bf B$, we prove that there are arbitrarily large number of gaps in the spectrum of these operators in the semiclassical limit of strong magnetic field $h\to 0$.