On asymptotics of Robin eigenvalues in the Dirichlet limit

Abstract: We investigate the asymptotic behavior of the eigenvalues of the Laplacian with homogeneous Robin boundary conditions, when the (positive) Robin parameter is diverging. In this framework, since the convergence of the Robin eigenvalues to the Dirichlet ones is known, we address the question of quantifying the rate of such convergence. More precisely, in this work we identify the proper geometric quantity representing (asymptotically) the first term in the expansion of the eigenvalue variation: it is a novel notion of torsional rigidity. Then, by performing a suitable asymptotic analysis of both such quantity and its minimizer, we prove the first-order expansion of any Robin eigenvalue, in the Dirichlet limit. Moreover, the convergence rate of the corresponding eigenfunctions is obtained as well. We remark that all our spectral estimates are explicit and sharp, and cover both the cases of convergence to simple and multiple Dirichlet eigenvalues.