Magnetic bottles for the Neumann problem : curvature effects in the case of dimension 3 (general case)

Abstract In a recent paper Lu and Pan have analyzed the asymptotic behavior, in the semi-classical regime, of the ground state energy of the Neumann realization of the Schrodinger operator in the case of dimension 3. Although these results are rather satisfactory when the magnetic field is non-constant and satisfies some generic conditions, they are not sufficient in the case of a constant magnetic field for understanding phenomena like the onset of superconductivity and more accurate results should be obtained. In the two-dimensional case, the effects due to the curvature of the boundary were predicted by a formal analysis of Bernoff–Sternberg and finally proved by the joint efforts of Lu–Pan, Del Pino–Felmer–Sternberg and Helffer–Morame. Our aim is to analyze similar effects in dimension 3. As known from physicists and roughly analyzed by Lu–Pan, it turns out that the results depend on the geometry of the boundary especially at the points where the magnetic field is tangent at the boundary. We present here the analog of the Bernoff–Sternberg conjecture (also formulated in a different form by Pan) and prove it in the generic situation.