On reverse Faber-Krahn inequalities (Q2302919)

The authors study two mixed eigenvalue problems for the \(p\)-Laplacian in a bounded domain \(\Omega\): \[ \left\{ \begin{aligned} -\Delta_p u &= \nu |u|^{p-2} u &&\text{in}~ \Omega,\\ u&=0 &&\text{on}~ \Gamma_0,\\ |\nabla u|^{p-2} \frac{\partial u}{\partial \eta} &=0 &&\text{on}~ \Gamma_1 \cup (\cup_{i=1}^n \gamma_i), \end{aligned} \right. \] and \[ \left\{ \begin{aligned} -\Delta_p u &= \tau |u|^{p-2} u &&\text{in}~ \Omega,\\ u&=0 &&\text{on}~ \Gamma_1,\\ |\nabla u|^{p-2} \frac{\partial u}{\partial \eta} &=0 &&\text{on}~ \Gamma_0 \cup (\cup_{i=1}^n \gamma_i). \end{aligned} \right. \] Here \(\Gamma_0\) stands for the outer boundary of \(\Omega\) and \(\Gamma_1, \gamma_1, \dots, \gamma_n\) stand for the boundaries of interior holes of \(\Omega\). Let \(\Omega^{\#}\) be a spherical shell of the same measure as \(\Omega\) and of the same outer surface measure as \(\Gamma_0\). Let \(\Omega_{\#}\) be a spherical shell of the same measure as \(\Omega\) and of the same inner surface measure as \(\Gamma_1\). It was proved in [\textit{L. E. Payne} and \textit{H. F. Weinberger}, J. Math. Anal. Appl. 2, 210--216 (1961; Zbl 0098.39201)] and [\textit{J. Hersch}, Pac. J. Math. 13, 1229--1238 (1963; Zbl 0127.40603)], respectively, that under the assumptions \(N=2\) and \(p=2\), \[ \nu_1(\Omega) \leq \nu_1(\Omega^\#) \quad \text{and} \quad \tau_1(\Omega) \leq \tau_1(\Omega_\#). \] In the present work, the authors show that these inequalities remain valid for any \(p>1\) if either \(N=2\), or \(N \geq 3\) and \(\Gamma_0\) or \(\Gamma_1\) is a sphere. The equality cases are also characterized. In higher dimensions, these results are new even in the linear case \(p=2\). In higher dimensions, these results are new even in the linear case \(p=2\). Moreover, notice that these results, as well as the results of Payne \& Weinberger and Hersch, contravene those from [\textit{K. Wang}, J. Math. Inequal. 12, No. 1, 285--302 (2018; Zbl 1392.53058)] where the opposite inequalities were claimed.