Let (E, F , µ) be a probability space, and P a symmetric linear contraction operator on L 2 (µ) with P 1 = 1 and P L 2 (µ)→L 4 (µ) < ∞. We prove that P 4 L 2 (µ)→L 4 (µ) < 2 is the optimal sufficient condition for P to have a spectral gap. Moreover, the optimal sufficient conditions are obtained, respectively , for the defective log-Sobolev and for the defective Poincaré inequality to imply the existence of a spectral gap. Finally, we construct a symmetric, hyperbounded, ergodic contraction C 0-semigroup without a spectral gap.