Log-Concavity and Level-Set Horoconvexity of the First Eigenfunction on Horoconvex Domains in the Hyperbolic Plane

Abstract

Let $\Omega\subset\mathbb H^2$ be a bounded smooth horoconvex domain and let $\psi_1>0$ be its first Dirichlet eigenfunction. We prove that \[ \operatorname{Hess}_{\mathbb H^2}(-\log\psi_1)>0 \] throughout $\Omega$, with no restriction on the diameter or the first eigenvalue. The proof is by contradiction. A degenerate Hessian would yield a shifted translation Killing derivative with a singular interior zero. Then the boundary-zero theorem of Grossi and Provenzano shows that the shifted Killing derivative has exactly two zeros on the boundary. A nodal-domain argument on the surface rules this out. As an application we prove that every superlevel set of $\psi_1$ is horoconvex: every level curve has geodesic curvature at least $1$. The Hessian bound makes the shifted construction available for Killing fields with nonvanishing rotation part, and yields the pointwise inequality $|(\operatorname{Hess} u)^{-1}J\nabla u|\le1$ for $u=-\log\psi_1$, where $J$ is rotation by $\pi/2$; a boundary-zero count for translation fields with arbitrary axis completes the argument.