Estimates of Dirichlet eigenvalues for a class of sub‐elliptic operators

Abstract

Let $\Omega$ be a bounded connected open subset in $\mathbb{R}^n$ with smooth boundary $\partial\Omega$. Suppose that we have a system of real smooth vector fields $X=(X_{1},X_{2},$ $\cdots,X_{m})$ defined on a neighborhood of $\overline{\Omega}$ that satisfies the Hormander's condition. Suppose further that $\partial\Omega$ is non-characteristic with respect to $X$. For a self-adjoint sub-elliptic operator $\triangle_{X}= -\sum_{i=1}^{m}X_{i}^{*} X_i$ on $\Omega$, we denote its $k^{th}$ Dirichlet eigenvalue by $\lambda_k$. We will provide an uniform upper bound for the sub-elliptic Dirichlet heat kernel. We will also give an explicit sharp lower bound estimate for $\lambda_{k}$, which has a polynomially growth in $k$ of the order related to the generalized Metivier index. We will establish an explicit asymptotic formula of $\lambda_{k}$ that generalizes the Metivier's results in 1976. Our asymptotic formula shows that under a certain condition, our lower bound estimate for $\lambda_{k}$ is optimal in terms of the growth of $k$. Moreover, the upper bound estimate of the Dirichlet eigenvalues for general sub-elliptic operators will also be given, which, in a certain sense, has the optimal growth order.