Short scale asymptotics in nonlocal spectral problems

Abstract

We study the asymptotic behavior of eigenvalues of nonlocal convolution-type operators $$L_\varepsilon\rho=-\frac{1}{\varepsilon^{d}}\int_\Omega J\left({\frac{|x-y|^2}{\varepsilon^2}}\right)\rho(y)dy+a(x)\rho(x),$$ (with a continuous sufficiently fast decaying at infinity function $J\geq 0$) when the scaling parameter $\varepsilon>0$ tends to zero. Assuming that the minimum of the function $a(x)$ is attained at a point $x_0\in \overline{\Omega}\subset \mathbb{R}^d$ and is non-degenerate, we establish several terms in the asymptotic expansion of the first eigenvalues $\lambda_\varepsilon^{(k)}$ of $L_\varepsilon$. If $x_0$ is an interior point of the domain $\Omega$, we show that $\lambda_\varepsilon^{(k)}=a(x_0)-1+\varepsilon\mu^{(k)}+\overline{o}(\varepsilon)$, where $\mu^{(k)}$ are eigenvalues of a harmonic oscillator (obtained by the blow up analysis), the corresponding eigenfunctions of $\mathcal{L}_\varepsilon$ are concentrated near $x_0$ on the scale $\varepsilon^{1/2}$. If $x_0\in\partial \Omega$ then the asymptotic expansion of the eigenvalues of $L_\varepsilon$ has the form $\lambda_\varepsilon^{(k)}=a(x_0)-1+\varepsilon^{2/3}\Lambda_0+\varepsilon(\mu^{(k)}+\alpha p_0)+\overline{o}(\varepsilon)$. The corresponding eigenfunctions are represented as the product of a function depending on the distance to $\partial\Omega$ and concentrated on the scale $\varepsilon^{2/3}$, and functions localized on the scale $\varepsilon^{1/2}$ and asymptotically independent of the distance to $\partial\Omega$. The latter functions converge (after rescaling) to eigenfunctions of a harmonic oscillator (in tangential variables), $\mu^{(k)}$ being their eigenvalues. The former function is given, to the leading term, by the scaled Airy function, and $\Lambda_0$, $\alpha$ and $p_0$ depend on $J(|x|^2)$ and $a(x)$.