An upper bound for the first positive eigenvalue of the Kohn Laplacian on Reinhardt real hypersurfaces

Abstract:

A real hypersurface in $\mathbb {C}^2$ is said to be Reinhardt if it is invariant under the standard $\mathbb {T}^2$-action on $\mathbb {C}^2$. Its CR geometry can be described in terms of the curvature function of its “generating curve”, i.e., the logarithmic image of the hypersurface in the plane $\mathbb {R}^2$. We give a sharp upper bound for the first positive eigenvalue of the Kohn Laplacian associated to a natural pseudohermitian structure on a compact and strictly pseudoconvex Reinhardt real hypersurface having closed generating curve (which amounts to the $\mathbb {T}^2$-action being free). Our bound is expressed in terms of the $L^2$-norm of the curvature function of the generating curve and is attained if and only if the curve is a circle.