On the Discrete Spectrum of Generalized Quantum Tubes

Abstract

The spectrum (of the Dirichlet Laplacian) of non-compact, non-complete Riemannian manifolds is much less understood than their compact counterparts. In particular it is often not even known whether such a manifold has any discrete spectra. In this article, we will prove that a certain type of non-compact, non-complete manifold called the quantum tube has non-empty discrete spectrum. The quantum tube is a tubular neighborhood built about an immersed complete manifold in Euclidean space. The terminology of “quantum” implies that the geometry of the underlying complete manifold can induce discrete spectra – hence quantization. We will show how the Weyl tube invariants appear in determining the existence of discrete spectra. This is an extension and generalization, on the geometric side, of the previous work of the author on the “quantum layer.”