Minimizers of Laplace eigenvalues under a lower curvature bound

Abstract

We prove a sharp comparison, with Obata-type rigidity, for all Neumann eigenvalues of one-dimensional $\mathrm{CD}(1,2)$ spaces against the Legendre model, under a convexity condition on the density. It follows that minimizers of the $k$-th Laplace eigenvalue among closed surfaces of Gaussian curvature at least $1$ cannot collapse in the measured Gromov-Hausdorff completion, for every $k\ge2$. We also give a variational proof that smooth minimizers are round.