We show how the von Neumann theory of self-adjoint extensions can be used to investigatequantum systems the configuration space of which can be decomposed into parts of different dimensionalities. The method can be applied in many situations; we illustrate it on examples including point contact spectroscopy, nanotube systems, microwave resonators, or spin conductance oscillations.

The goal of this paper is to derive estimates of eigenvalue moments for Dirichlet Laplacians and Schrdinger operators in regions having infinite cusps which are geometrically nontrivial being either curved or twisted; we are going to show how those geometric properties enter the eigenvalue bounds. The obtained inequalities reflect the essentially one-dimensional character of the cusps and we give an example showing that in an intermediate energy region they can be much stronger than the usual semiclassical bounds.

We analyze spectral properties of a leaky wire model with a potential bias. It describes a two-dimensional quantum particle exposed to a potential consisting of two parts. One is an attractive -interaction supported by a non-straight, piecewise smooth curve L dividing the plane into two regions of which one, the interior, is convex. The other interaction component is a constant positive potential V0 in one of the regions. We show that in the critical case, V0 = 2, the discrete spectrum is non-void if and only if the bias is supported in the interior. We also analyze the non-critical situations, in particular, we show that in the subcritical case, V0 < 2, the system may have any finite number of bound states provided the angle between the asymptotes of L is small enough.

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.

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.