We analyze spectral properties of the operator <i>H</i> = <i></i>²/<i>x</i>² <i></i>²/<i>y</i>² + <i></i>²<i>y</i>² <i>y</i>²<i>V</i>(<i>xy</i>) in <i>L</i>²(²), where <i></i> 0 and <i>V </i> 0 is a compactly supported and sufficiently regular potential. It is known that the spectrum of <i>H</i> depends on the one-dimensional Schrdinger operator <i>L</i> = <i>d</i>²/<i>dx</i>² + <i></i>² <i>V</i>(<i>x</i>) and it changes substantially as inf(<i>L</i>) switches sign. We prove that in the critical case, inf(<i>L</i>) = 0, the spectrum of <i>H</i> is purely essential and covers the interval [0, ). In the subcritical case, inf <i></i>(<i>L</i>) &gt; 0, the essential spectrum starts from <i></i> and there is a nonvoid discrete spectrum in the interval [0, <i></i>). We also derive a bound on the corresponding eigenvalue moments.

An irreducible II_1-subfactor A⊂B is exactly 1-supertransitive if B⊖A is reducible as an A − A bimodule. We classify exactly 1-supertransitive subfactors with index at most 6+1/5, leaving aside the composite subfactors at index exactly 6 where there are severe difficulties. Previously, such subfactors were only known up to index 3+\sqrt{5} ≈ 5.23. Our work is a significant extension, and also shows that index 6 is not an insurmountable barrier.There are exactly three such subfactors with index in (3+\sqrt{5},6+1/5], all with index 3+2\sqrt{2}. One of these comes from SO(3)_q at a root of unity, while the other two appear to be closely related, and are ‘braided up to a sign’.

We provide some characterizations for SOC-monotone and SOC-convex functions by using differential analysis. From these characterizations, we particularly obtain that a continuously differentiable function defined in an open interval is SOC-monotone (SOC-convex) of order <i>n</i> 3 if and only if it is 2-matrix monotone (matrix convex), and furthermore, such a function is also SOC-monotone (SOC-convex) of order <i>n</i> 2 if it is 2-matrix monotone (matrix convex). In addition, we also prove that Conjecture 4.2 proposed in Chen (Optimization 55:363385, 2006) does not hold in general. Some examples are included to illustrate that these characterizations open convenient ways to verify the SOC-monotonicity and the SOC-convexity of a continuously differentiable function defined on an open interval, which are often involved in the solution methods of the convex second-order cone optimization.

We consider problems related to the asymptotic minimization of eigenvalues of anisotropic harmonic oscillators in the plane. In particular we study Riesz means of the eigenvalues and the trace of the corresponding heat kernels. The eigenvalue minimization problem can be reformulated as a lattice point problem where one wishes to maximize the number of points of (N−12)×(N−12) inside triangles with vertices (0,0),(0,λβ−−√) and (λ/β−−√,0) with respect to β>0, for fixed λ≥0. This lattice point formulation of the problem naturally leads to a family of generalized problems where one instead considers the shifted lattice (N+σ)×(N+τ), for σ,τ>−1. We show that the nature of these problems are rather different depending on the shift parameters, and in particular that the problem corresponding to harmonic oscillators, σ=τ=−12, is a critical case.

We consider the problem of geometric optimization for the lowest eigenvalue of the two-dimensional Schrdinger operator with an attractive -interaction of a fixed strength, the support of which is a star graph with finitely many edges of an equal length L(0,]. Under the constraint of fixed number of the edges and fixed length of them, we prove that the lowest eigenvalue is maximized by the fully symmetric star graph. The proof relies on the Birman-Schwinger principle, properties of the Macdonald function, and on a geometric inequality for polygons circumscribed into the unit circle.