Courant-sharp property for Dirichlet eigenfunctions on the Möbius strip

Abstract: The question of determining for which eigenvalues there exists an eigenfunction which has the same number of nodal domains as the label of the associated eigenvalue (Courant-sharp property) was motivated by the analysis of minimal spectral partitions. In previous works, many examples have been analyzed corresponding to squares, rectangles, disks, triangles, tori, \ldots . A natural toy model for further investigations is the M\"obius strip, a non-orientable surface with Euler characteristic $0$, and particularly the "square" M\"obius strip whose eigenvalues have higher multiplicities. In this case, we prove that the only Courant-sharp Dirichlet eigenvalues are the first and the second, and we exhibit peculiar nodal patterns.