Eigenvalue problems for the p-Laplacian

We study nonlinear eigenvalue problems for the p$p$-Laplace operator subject to different kinds of boundary conditions on a bounded domain. Using the Ljusternik–Schnirelman principle, we show the existence of a nondecreasing sequence of nonnegative eigenvalues. We prove the simplicity and isolation of the principal eigenvalue and give a characterization for the second eigenvalue.     

A bifurcation problem governed by the boundary condition I

We deal with positive solutions of Δu = a(x)u ^p in a bounded smooth domain subject to the boundary condition ∂u/∂v = λu, λ a parameter, p > 1. We prove that this problem has a unique positive solution if and only if 0 < λ < σ₁ where, roughly speaking, σ₁ is finite if and only if |∂Ω ∩ {a = 0}| > 0 and coincides with the first eigenvalue of an associated eigenvalue problem. Moreover, we find the limit profile of the solution as λ → σ₁. Supported by DGES and FEDER under grant BFM2001-3894 (J. García-Melián and J. Sabina) and ANPCyT PICT No. 03-05009 (J. D. Rossi). J.D. Rossi is a member of CONICET.     

Maximum and anti-maximum principlesand eigenfunctions estimates via perturbation theory of positive solutions of elliptic equations

In this paper we discuss some new results concerning perturbation theory for second order elliptic partial differential equations related to positivity properties of such equations. We continue the study of some different notions of “small” perturbations and discuss their relations to comparisons of Green's functions, refined maximum and anti-maximum principles, ground state, and the decay of eigenfunctions. In particular, we show that if V is a positive function which is a semismall perturbation of a subcritical Schr?dinger operator H defined on a domain , and are the (Dirichlet) eigenfunctions of the equation , then for any , the function is bounded and has a continuous extension up to the Martin boundary of the pair , where is the ground state of H with a principal eigenvalue . Received: 29 November 1998     

On the ground state eigenfunction of a convex domain in Euclidean space

We study the first eigenfunction ₁ of the Dirichlet Laplacian on a convex domain in Euclidean space. Elementary properties of Bessel functions yield that if D is a sector in Euclidean plane with area 1 and the angle tends to 0. We aim to characterize those domains D such that is large in terms of the ratio of the first eigenvalue of D and the infimum of the first eigenvalues of all subdomains D of D with given volume.Research supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft     

Fully nonlinear elliptic equations and the dini condition

Abstract

We investigate transmission problems with strongly Lipschitz interfaces for the Dirac equation by establishing spectral estimates on an associated boundary singular integral operator, the rotation operator. Using Rellich estimates we obtain angular spectral estimates on both the essential and full spectrum for general bi-oblique transmission problems. Specializing to the normal transmission problem, we investigate transmission problems for Maxwell's equations using a nilpotent exterior/interior derivativeoperator. The fundamental commutation properties for this operator with the two basic reflection operators are proved. We show how the L ₂spectral estimates are inherited for the domain of the exterior/interior derivative operator and prove some complementary eigenvalue estimates. Finally we use a general algebraic theorem to prove a regularity property needed for Maxwell's equations.     

Solutions and multiple solutions for problems with the <Emphasis Type="Italic">p</Emphasis>-Laplacian

In this paper we consider two nonlinear elliptic problems driven by the p-Laplacian and having a nonsmooth potential (hemivariational inequalities). The first is an eigenvalue problem and we prove that if the parameter λ < λ₂ = the second eigenvalue of the p-Laplacian, then there exists a nontrivial smooth solution. The second problem is resonant both near zero and near infinity for the principal eigenvalue of the p-Laplacian. For this problem we prove a multiplicity result. Our approach is variational based on the nonsmooth critical point theory. Second author is Corresponding author.     

Three-term asymptotics for the boundary layers of semilinear elliptic eigenvalue problems

We consider the nonlinear eigenvalue problem −Δu=λ f(u) in Ω u=0 on ∂Ω, where Ω is a ball or an annulus in R^N (N ≥ 2) and λ > 0 is a parameter. It is known that if λ >> 1, then the corresponding positive solution u_λ develops boundary layers under some conditions on f. We establish the asymptotic formulas for the slope of the boundary layers of u_λ with the exact second term and the ‘optimal’ estimate of the third term.     

The behavior of the best Sobolev trace constant and extremals in thin domains

In this paper, we study the asymptotic behavior of the best Sobolev trace constant and extremals for the immersion W1,p(Ω)?Lq(∂Ω) in a bounded smooth domain when it is contracted in one direction. We find that the limit problem, when rescaled in a suitable way, is a Sobolev-type immersion in weighted spaces over a projection of Ω, W1,p(P(Ω),α)?Lq(P(Ω),β).For the special case p=q, this problem leads to an eigenvalue problem with a nonlinear boundary condition. We also study the convergence of the eigenvalues and eigenvectors in this case.     

Sums of Magnetic Eigenvalues are Maximal on Rotationally Symmetric Domains

The sum of the first n ≥ 1 energy levels of the planar Laplacian with constant magnetic field of given total flux is shown to be maximal among triangles for the equilateral triangle, under normalization of the ratio (moment of inertia)/(area)³ on the domain. The result holds for both Dirichlet and Neumann boundary conditions, with an analogue for Robin (or de Gennes) boundary conditions too. The square similarly maximizes the eigenvalue sum among parallelograms, and the disk maximizes among ellipses. More generally, a domain with rotational symmetry will maximize the magnetic eigenvalue sum among all linear images of that domain. These results are new even for the ground state energy (n = 1).     

Multiple Positive Solutions for Eigenvalue Problems of Hemivariational Inequalities

We study a nonlinear eigenvalue problem with a nonsmooth potential. The subgradients of the potential are only positive near the origin (from above) and near +∞. Also the subdifferential is not necessarily monotone (i.e. the potential is not convex). Using variational techniques and the method of upper and lower solutions, we establish the existence of at least two strictly positive smooth solutions for all the parameters in an interval. Our approach uses the nonsmooth critical point theory for locally Lipschitz functions. A byproduct of our analysis is a generalization of a result of Brezis-Nirenberg (CRAS, 317 (1993)) on H¹₀ versus C¹₀ minimizers of a C¹-functional.     

Bounds and monotonicity for the generalized Robin problem

We consider the principal eigenvalue λ ₁^Ω(α) corresponding to Δu = λ (α) u in on ∂Ω, with α a fixed real, and a C ^0,1 bounded domain. If α > 0 and small, we derive bounds for λ ₁^Ω(α) in terms of a Stekloff-type eigenvalue; while for α > 0 large we study the behavior of its growth in terms of maximum curvature. We analyze how domain monotonicity of the principal eigenvalue depends on the geometry of the domain, and prove that domains which exhibit domain monotonicity for every α are calibrable. We conjecture that a domain has the domain monotonicity property for some α if and only if it is calibrable. Robert Smits: This author was partially supported by a grant of the National Security Agency, grant #H98230-05-1-0060.     

Viscosity solutions of the <Emphasis Type="Italic">p</Emphasis>-Laplace equation with nonlinear source

In the present paper we consider the Dirichlet problem in a convex domain for the multidimensional p-Laplace equation with nonlinear source. We prove the existence of the unique continuous viscosity solution under quite general assumptions on the structure of the source. Received: 18 January 2006     

Diffusive Logistic Equations with Degenerate Boundary Conditions

The purpose of this paper is to provide a careful and accessible exposition of static bifurcation theory for a class of degenerate boundary value problems for diffusive logistic equations with indefinite weights that model population dynamics in environments with spatial heterogeneity. We discuss the changes that occur in the structure of the positive solutions as a parameter varies near the first eigenvalue of the linearized problem, and prove that the most favorable situations will occur if there is a relatively large favorable region (with good resources and without crowding effects) located some distance away from the boundary of the environment.Dedicated to Professor Mitsuru Ikawa on the occasion of his 60th birthday     

Existence of an extremal ground state energy of a nanostructured quantum dot

This paper is concerned with two rearrangement optimization problems. These problems are motivated by two eigenvalue problems which depend nonlinearly on the eigenvalues. We consider a rational and a quadratic eigenvalue problem with Dirichlet’s boundary condition and investigate two related optimization problems where the goal function is the corresponding first eigenvalue. The first eigenvalue in the rational eigenvalue problem represents the ground state energy of a nanostructured quantum dot. In both the problems, the admissible set is a rearrangement class of a given function.     

Singular asymptotic expansions for Dirichlet eigenvalues and eigenfunctions of the Laplacian on thin planar domains

We consider the Laplace operator with Dirichlet boundary conditions on a planar domain and study the effect that performing a scaling in one direction has on the spectrum. We derive the asymptotic expansion for the eigenvalues and corresponding eigenfunctions as a function of the scaling parameter around zero. This method allows us, for instance, to obtain an approximation for the first Dirichlet eigenvalue for a large class of planar domains, under very mild assumptions.     

Rearrangements and minimization of the principal eigenvalue of a nonlinear Steklov problem

This paper, motivated by Del Pezzo et al. (2006) [1], discusses the minimization of the principal eigenvalue of a nonlinear boundary value problem. In the literature, this type of problem is called Steklov eigenvalue problem. The minimization is implemented with respect to a weight function. The admissible set is a class of rearrangements generated by a bounded function. We merely assume the generator is non-negative in contrast to [1], where the authors consider weights which are positively away from zero, in addition to being two-valued. Under this generality, more physical situations can be modeled. Finally, using rearrangement theory developed by Geoffrey Burton, we are able to prove uniqueness of the optimal solution when the domain of interest is a ball.     

Lower bounds for the first eigenvalue of the magnetic Laplacian

We consider a Riemannian cylinder Ω endowed with a closed potential 1-form A and study the magnetic Laplacian ${\mathrm{\Delta }}_A$ with magnetic Neumann boundary conditions associated with those data. We establish a sharp lower bound for the first eigenvalue and show that the equality characterizes the situation where the metric is a product. We then look at the case of a planar domain bounded by two closed curves and obtain an explicit lower bound in terms of the geometry of the domain. We finally discuss sharpness of this last estimate.     

Remarks on an overdetermined boundary value problem

We modify and extend proofs of Serrin’s symmetry result for overdetermined boundary value problems from the Laplace-operator to a general quasilinear operator and remove a strong ellipticity assumption in Philippin (Maximum principles and eigenvalue problems in partial differential equations (Knoxville, TN, 1987), Longman Sci. Tech., Pitman Res. Notes Math. Ser., Harlow, 175, pp. 34–48, 1988) and a growth assumption in Garofalo and Lewis (A symmetry result related to some overdetermined boundary value problems, Am. J. Math. 111, 9–33, 1989) on the diffusion coefficient A, as well as a starshapedness assumption on Ω in Fragalà et al. (Overdetermined boundary value problems with possibly degenerate ellipticity: a geometric approach. Math. Zeitschr. 254, 117–132, 2006).     

Isoperimetric inequalities,Wulff shape and related questions for strongly nonlinear elliptic operators

We investigate the first eigenvalue of a highly nonlinear class of elliptic operators which includes the p--Laplace operator $\Delta_p u=\sum_i {{\partial}\over{\partial x_i}} (\vert\nabla u \vert^{p-2}{{\partial u}\over{\partial x_i}})$, the pseudo-p-Laplace operator $\tilde\Delta_p u=\sum_i {{\partial}\over{\partial x_i}} (\vert {{\partial u}\over{\partial x_i}} \vert^{p-2} {{\partial u}\over{\partial x_i}})$ and others. We derive the positivity of the first eingefunction, simlicity of the first eigenvalue, Faber-Krahn and Payne-Rayner type inequalities. In another chapter we address the question of symmetry for positive solutions to more general equations. Using a Pohozaev-type inequality and isoperimetric inequalities as well as convex rearrangement methods we generalize a symmetry result of Kesavan and Pacella. Our optimal domains are level sets of a convex function H ^o. They have the so-called Wulff shape associated with H and only in special cases they are Euclidean balls.