An eigenvalue problem with mixed boundary conditions and trace theorems

Abstract

An eigenvalue problem is considered where the eigenvalue appears in the domain and on the boundary. This eigenvalue problem has a spectrum of discrete positive and negative eigenvalues. The smallest positive and the largest negative eigenvalue $\lambda_{\pm 1}$ can be characterized by a variational principle. We are mainly interested in obtaining non trivial upper bounds for $\lambda_{-1}$. We prove some domain monotonicity for certain special shapes using a kind of maximum principle derived by C. Bandle, J.v. Bellow and W. Reichel in [J. Eur. Math. Soc., 10 (2007), 73-104]. We then apply these bounds to the trace inequality.