Sharp boundary behavior of eigenvalues for Aharonov-Bohm operators with varying poles

In this paper, we investigate the behavior of the eigenvalues of a magnetic Aharonov Bohm operator with half-integer circulation and Dirichlet boundary conditions in a bounded planar domain. We establish a sharp relation between the rate of convergence of the eigenvalues as the singular pole is approaching a boundary point and the number of nodal lines of the eigenfunction of the limiting problem, i.e. of the Dirichlet-Laplacian, ending at that point. The proof relies on the construction of a limit profile depending on the direction along which the pole is moving, and on an Almgren-type monotonicity argument for magnetic operators. (C) 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.