Regularity of isoperimetric sets in \(\mathbb R^2\) with density (Q2396229): Difference between revisions

If a function \(f:\mathbb R^N\to\mathbb R^+\) is lower semi-continuous, called density, then the volume \(V_f(E)\) and the perimeter \(P_f(E)\) of a set \(E\subset\mathbb R^N\) are defined, respectively, as \[ V_f(E)=\int_E f(x)\, dx, \quad P_f(E)=\int_{\partial E} f(x)\, d{\mathcal{H}}^{n-1}(x), \] where \(\partial^*E\) is reduced boundary of \(E\) and \({\mathcal{H}}^N\) is the Hausdorff measure in \(\mathbb R^n\). The isoperimetric problem is to search for (isoperimetric) sets of minimal perimeter among those of fixed volume. The main questions about the isoperimetric problem with density are the existence and regularity of isoperimetric sets. In this paper, the authors deal with the regularity. The first very important result on regularity presented by \textit{F. Morgan} [Trans. Am. Math. Soc. 355, No. 12, 5041--5052 (2003; Zbl 1063.49031)] states that if \(f\) is a \(C^{k,\alpha}\) density on \(\mathbb R^n\), with \(k\geq 1\), then the boundary of any isoperimetric set is \(C^{k+1,\alpha}\), except for a singular set of Hausdorff dimension at most \(n-7\), and if \(f\) is just Lipschitz, then the boundary is of class \(C^{1,\alpha}\) for every \(0<\alpha<1\). To get rid of the Lipschitz requirement for \(f\), the present authors, in [J. Reine Angew. Math. 728, 65--103 (2017; Zbl 1369.49061)], introduced the notion of the \(\varepsilon-\varepsilon^\beta\) property and used it to show that if \(E\) is an isoperimetric set in \(\mathbb R^n\) with a density \(f\in C^{0,\alpha}\), with \(0<\alpha\leq 1\), then \(\partial^*E=\partial E\) is of class \(C^{1,\frac{\alpha}{2n(1-\alpha)+2\alpha}}\). In particular, if \(n=2\), then \(\partial E\) is \(C^{1,\frac{\alpha}{4-2\alpha}}\). The main result of the present paper is a stronger regularity result for the 2-dimensional case, and states that if \(f:\mathbb R^2\to\mathbb R^+\) is \(C^{0,\alpha}\) for some \(0<\alpha\leq 1\), then every isoperimetric set \(E\) has a boundary of class \(C^{1,\frac{\alpha}{3-2\alpha}}\).