On the first eigenvalue of a fourth order Steklov problem

We prove some results about the first Steklov eigenvalue d ₁ of the biharmonic operator in bounded domains. Firstly, we show that Fichera’s principle of duality (Fichera in Atti Accad Naz Lincei 19:411–418, 1955) may be extended to a wide class of nonsmooth domains. Next, we study the optimization of d ₁ for varying domains: we disprove a long-standing conjecture, we show some new and unexpected features and we suggest some challenging problems. Finally, we prove several properties of the ball.