Improvements for eigenfunction averages: An application of geodesic beams

Abstract

Let $(M,g)$ be a smooth, compact Riemannian manifold and $\{ϕ_λ\}$ an $L^2$-normalized sequence of Laplace eigenfunctions, $-Δ_gϕ_λ=λ^2 ϕ_λ$. Given a smooth submanifold $H \subset M$ of codimension $k\geq 1$, we find conditions on the pair $(M,H)$, even when $H=\{x\}$, for which $$ \Big|\int_Hϕ_λdσ_H\Big|=O\Big(\frac{λ^{\frac{k-1}{2}}}{\sqrt{\log λ}}\Big)\qquad \text{or}\qquad |ϕ_λ(x)|=O\Big(\frac{λ^{\frac{n-1}{2}}}{\sqrt{\log λ}}\Big), $$ as $λ\to \infty$. These conditions require no global assumption on the manifold $M$ and instead relate to the structure of the set of recurrent directions in the unit normal bundle to $H$. Our results extend all previously known conditions guaranteeing improvements on averages, including those on sup-norms. For example, we show that if $(M,g)$ is a surface with Anosov geodesic flow, then there are logarithmically improved averages for any $H\subset M$. We also find weaker conditions than having no conjugate points which guarantee $\sqrt{\log λ}$ improvements for the $L^\infty$ norm of eigenfunctions. Our results are obtained using geodesic beam techniques, which yield a mechanism for obtaining general quantitative improvements for averages and sup-norms.