ABSTRACT. We state a localization principle for expansions in eigenfunctions of a self-adjoint second order elliptic operator and we prove an equiconvergence result between eigenfunction expansions and trigonometric expansions. We then study the Gibbs phenomenon for eigenfunction expansions of piecewise smooth functions on two-dimensional manifolds.Two of the most elementary but basic results in harmonic analysis are the theorem of Dirichlet on the convergence of Fourier series and the localization principle of Riemann. The Riemann localization principle states that the behavior of the partial sums of a Fourier series at a given point depends only on the behavior of the function in an arbitrary small neighborhood of this point. The Dirichlet theorem, originally stated for functions with a finite number of maxima and minima, when applied to piecewise smooth functions guarantees the convergence at every point of the partial sums of Fourier series to the function expanded. At a discontinuity the convergence is to the midpoint of the jump but, as it was observed by Wilbraham and later by Michelson and Gibbs, in a neighborhood of the discontinuities, the partial sums have wild oscillations and overshoot the target by about 9% of the value of the jump.The classical trigonometric series is a quite faithful model for more general one-dimensional expansions. After suitable changes of variables, a regular Sturm-Liouville problem can be put in a canonical form:Moreover, if oty ~ 0 and if n ~ +oo, the sequences of eigenvalues {A n In=0 and normalized