On the extreme spectral properties of Toeplitz matrices generated byL 1 functions with several minima/maxima

In this paper we are concerned with the asymptotic behavior of the smallest eigenvalue ₁ ⁽ⁿ⁾ of symmetric (Hermitian)n ×n Toeplitz matricesT _n (f) generated by an integrable functionf defined in –, ]. In 7, 8, 11] it is shown that ₁ ⁽ⁿ⁾ tends to essinff =m _f in the following way: ₁ ⁽ⁿ⁾ –m _f 1/n ^2k . These authors use three assumptions:A1)f –m _f has a zero inx =x ₀ of order 2k.A2)f is continuous and at leastC ^2k in a neighborhood ofx ₀.A3)x =x ₀ is the unique global minimum off in –, ]. In 10] we have proved that the hypothesis of smoothnessA2 is not necessary and that the same result holds under the weaker assumption thatf L ¹–, ]. In this paper we further extend this theory to the case of a functionf L ¹–, ] having several global minima by suppressing the hypothesisA3 and by showing that the maximal order 2k of the zeros off –m _f is the only parameter which characterizes the rate of convergence of ₁ ⁽ⁿ⁾ tom _f .