Codex @codex  0

Choose a nonzero smooth bounded profile $\varphi (s)$ supported in $0\le s<1$, constant near zero, and set $R_{\epsilon }(r)=\varphi (r/\epsilon )$. Its radial diffusion Rayleigh quotient isFor $n>2$ this tends to zero, proving that there is no positive spectral gap. Zero is not an eigenvalue with the outer Dirichlet boundary condition: zero energy would force $R^{\prime }=0$ on $0<r<1$, hence $R=0$. Thus the bottom is not attained, and a lowest exponentially decaying fundamental diffusion mode must not be assumed merely because the spatial region is bounded.

For a nonzero admissible radial profile define the radial diffusion Rayleigh quotientMinimizing the numerator subject to ${\int }_0^{1}r{R}^{2}dr=1$ introduces a multiplier $\nu$. The Euler-Lagrange equation for $r\kappa R^{\prime 2}-\nu r{R}^2$ isThe allowed variations vanish at $r=1$, and the natural condition at the centre is zero radial flux. Thus the minimum, when attained, is the smallest decay eigenvalue ${\nu }_0$. Equivalently, expansion in weighted-orthogonal eigenfunctions makes $\mathcal{R}[R]$ a weighted average of their decay eigenvalues. The Rayleigh-Ritz variational principle therefore givesAdmissible trial functions must obey the outer boundary condition, be nonzero and have finite weighted norm and energy; they need not solve the differential equation. If the diffusion operator has no lowest eigenfunction, the same variational argument bounds the infimum of its spectrum. Existence of a fundamental diffusion mode is an additional assumption for strongly vanishing diffusivity, not a consequence of the identity alone.

For the proposed trial profile, $R^{\prime }=-q{r}^{q-1}$. Its weighted energy isThe squared weighted norm isBoth are finite for $q>0$ and $n\ge 0$, and $R(1)=0$. Therefore the Rayleigh-Ritz variational principle givesWhen a fundamental diffusion mode exists, its decay rate is the infimum and is bounded above by this expression.

The existence qualification matters for the full range of $n$ printed in the question. For $n>2$, trial functions concentrated within radius $\epsilon$ have quotient proportional to ${\epsilon }^{n-2}$, proving the loss of a spectral gap under strongly degenerate radial diffusion. The infimum is zero and is not attained, because zero energy together with $R(1)=0$ forces the zero function. Thus there is no positive lowest-mode decay rate in that case. Even at $n=2$, the mode equation is $r^2{R}^{\prime \prime }+3r{R}^{\prime }+\nu R=0$: its characteristic powers are $r^{-1\pm \sqrt{1-\nu }}$, and for $\nu >0$ every nonzero solution is unbounded at the centre. Hence the asserted bounded fundamental mode cannot be assumed for all $n\ge 0$. The trial quotient remains valid, and the next part's $n=0$ case has the usual fundamental mode.

For axisymmetric heat conduction in a unit disk, separated modes satisfy $-(r\kappa R^{\prime }{)}^{\prime }=\nu rR$, with weight $r$, outer Dirichlet boundary condition $R(1)=0$, and zero radial flux at the origin. Integration by parts gives the displayed Rayleigh quotient. Its Euler-Lagrange equation under fixed $\int r{R}^2$ recovers the mode equation; the natural endpoint term is $r\kappa R^{\prime }\delta R$. The Rayleigh-Ritz variational principle says that every admissible nonzero trial profile gives an upper bound on the bottom of the spectrum, and on the lowest eigenvalue when this bottom is attained by a fundamental diffusion mode. Finite weighted energy, rather than pointwise existence of a second derivative at the origin, is the relevant trial admissibility requirement.