On the parity of the number of nodal domains for an eigenfunction of the Laplacian on tori

Abstract

In this note, we discuss a question posed by T. Hoffmann-Ostenhof concerning the parity of the number of nodal domains for a non-constant eigenfunction of the Laplacian on flat tori. We present two results. We first show that on the torus $(\mathbb{R}/2\pi \mathbb{Z}{)}^2$, a non-constant eigenfunction has an even number of nodal domains. We then consider the torus $(\mathbb{R}/2\pi \mathbb{Z})\times (\mathbb{R}/2\rho \pi \mathbb{Z})$, with $\rho =\frac{1}{\sqrt{3}}$, and construct on it an eigenfunction with three nodal domains.

5 pages, 2 figures