Asymptotic behavior of spectral gaps in a regularly perturbed periodic waveguide

Since the spectrum of a periodic waveguide is the union of a countable family of closed bounded segments (spectral bands), it can contain opened spectral gaps, i.e., intervals in the real positive semi-axis that are free of the spectrum but have both endpoints in it. A cylindrical waveguide has an intact spectrum that is a closed ray. We consider a small periodic perturbation of the waveguide wall, and, by means of an asymptotic analysis of the eigenvalues in the model problem on the periodicity cell, we show how a spectral gap opens when the cylindrical waveguide converts into a periodic one. Indeed, a cylindrical waveguide can be interpreted as a periodic one with an arbitrary period, but all its spectral bands touch each other. A periodic perturbation of the waveguide wall provides the splitting of the band edges. This effect is known in the physical literature for waveguides of different shapes, and, in this paper, we provide a rigorous mathematical proof of the effect. Several variants of the edge splitting (alone and coupled, simple and multiple knots) are examined. Explicit formulas are obtained for a plane waveguide.