The symmetry conjecture for spherical harmonics

Let {ψλ}\{\psi_{\lambda}\} be a sequence of spherical harmonics on the sphere, with eigenvalue parameter λ\lambda. Consider the ratio of the volumes of their positive and negative sets.

Symmetry conjecture. The limit

vol({xM:ψλ(x)>0})vol({xM:ψλ(x)<0})1\frac{\operatorname{vol}(\{x\in M:\psi_{\lambda}(x)>0\})}{\operatorname{vol}(\{x\in M:\psi_{\lambda}(x)<0\})}\longrightarrow 1

holds as λ\lambda grows to infinity.

This is presented as a partial result toward the broader symmetry conjecture, which is refuted in general but remains valid in some special settings, including the two-dimensional flat torus. The source places this statement in the context of spherical harmonics and an application of the paper's theorem for f(z)=cos(z)f(z)=\cos(z).

Sources & referencesView supporting material

Primary source

Ángel D. Martínez and Francisco Torres de Lizaur, “Sign equidistribution of Legendre polynomials”, arXiv:2205.14493 (2022).

Progress summary

Never refreshed

Nothing recorded yet. Refresh searches the literature and the public web for attempts on this problem, and writes the first summary here.

Solutions 0

No solutions have been posted yet.