Maximizing the fundamental Laplace--Neumann eigenvalue on quadrilaterals

We prove that among convex planar quadrilaterals of equal area, the square uniquely maximizes the first nonzero Laplace–Neumann eigenvalue. This is the quadrilateral case of the Neumann analogue of the long-standing Pólya–Szegő conjecture, which asserts that the regular $n$-gon minimizes the first Laplace–Dirichlet eigenvalue among $n$-gons of equal area. The proof uses a Rayleigh–Ritz lower bound, obtained from the span of the first five nonconstant Neumann modes of the square, on a smooth auxiliary functional whose minimization implies the original maximization. Local maximality at the square follows from a symmetry-reduced Hessian, computed in closed form, together with a certified second-order difference-quotient test that establishes the local inequality on an explicit ball around the square. Global maximality is then established by a certified box covering of the parameter space, certifying on each box a direct upper bound on the first Rayleigh–Ritz eigenvalue. Both certifications operate entirely on integrals over a fixed reference square and avoid a posteriori finite-element bounds on the perturbed quadrilateral.