Range of the first two eigenvalues of the laplacian
For each planar domain D of unit area, the first two Dirichlet eigenvalues of —∆ on D determine a point (λ 1 ( D ), λ 2 ( D ) in the (λ 1 , λ 2 ) plane. As D varies over all such domains, this point varies over a set R which we determine. Its boundary consists of two semi-infinite straight lines and a curve connecting their endpoints. This curve is found numerially. We also show how to minimize the n th eigenvalue when the minimizing domain is diconnected. For n = 3 we show that the minimizing domain is connected and that λ 3 is a local minimum for D a circular disc.