Spectral asymptotics for Laplacians on self-similar sets

Given a self-similar Dirichlet form on a self-similar set, we first give an estimate on the asymptotic order of the associated eigenvalue counting function in terms of a ‘geometric counting function’ defined through a family of coverings of the self-similar set naturally associated with the Dirichlet space. Secondly, under (sub-)Gaussian heat kernel upper bound, we prove a detailed short time asymptotic behavior of the partition function, which is the Laplace–Stieltjes transform of the eigenvalue counting function associated with the Dirichlet form. This result can be applicable to a class of infinitely ramified self-similar sets including generalized Sierpinski carpets, and is an extension of the result given recently by B.M. Hambly for the Brownian motion on generalized Sierpinski carpets. Moreover, we also provide a sharp remainder estimate for the short time asymptotic behavior of the partition function. © 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.