Comparison inequalities for Dirichlet-to-Neumann maps

Abstract

We prove comparison inequalities for Dirichlet-to-Neumann maps corresponding to different non-positive Helmholtz parameters. For convex domains our bounds are sharp, and the resulting eigenvalue inequalities partially confirm an earlier conjecture, which we show does not hold in full generality. We further obtain geometry-dependent versions for arbitrary sufficiently regular domains, together with extensions to compact Riemannian manifolds with boundary. We also discuss analogous questions for metric graphs.