Low-lying eigenvalues of semiclassical Schrodinger operator with degenerate wells

In this article, we consider the semiclassical Schrodinger operator $P = - h^{2} Delta + V$ in $mathbb{R}^{d}$ with confining non-negative potential $V$ which vanishes, and study its low-lying eigenvalues $lambda_{k} ( P )$ as $h to 0$. First, we give a necessary and sufficient criterion upon $V^{-1} ( 0 )$ for $lambda_{1} ( P ) h^{- 2}$ to be bounded. When $d = 1$ and $V^{-1} ( 0 ) = { 0 }$, we are able to control the eigenvalues $lambda_{k} ( P )$ for monotonous potentials by a quantity linked to an interval $I_{h}$, determined by an implicit relation involving $V$ and $h$. Next, we consider the case where $V$ has a flat minimum, in the sense that it vanishes to infinite order. We give the asymptotic of the eigenvalues: they behave as the eigenvalues of the Dirichlet Laplacian on $I_{h}$. Our analysis includes an asymptotic of the associated eigenvectors and extends in particular cases to higher dimensions.