On the Hersch-Payne-Schiffer inequalities for Steklov eigenvalues

Abstract

We prove that the Hersch-Payne-Schiffer isoperimetric inequality for the nth nonzero Steklov eigenvalue of a bounded simply connected planar domain is sharp for all n ⩾ 1. The equality is attained in the limit by a sequence of simply connected domains degenerating into a disjoint union of n identical disks. Similar results are obtained for the product of two consecutive Steklov eigenvalues. We also give a new proof of the Hersch-Payne-Schiffer inequality for n = 2 and show that it is strict in this case.