Hot spots conjecture for a class of acute triangles (Q2516470)

For the Neumann eigenvalue problem \[ \begin{alignedat}{2} &\Delta \varphi = - \mu \varphi \quad & \text{on } D, \\ &\frac{\partial u}{\partial \nu}= 0 \quad & \text{on } \partial D, \end{alignedat} \] there exists, for a sufficiently smoothly bounded domain \(D\), a set of eigenvalues \[ 0 = \mu_1 < \mu_2 \leq \mu_3 \cdots \to \infty . \] The hot spots conjecture states the following: The global maximum and global minimum for any eigenfunction belonging to \(\mu_2\) is not attained inside the domain. This conjecture goes back to \textit{J. Rauch} [Lect. Notes Math. 446, 355--369 (1975; Zbl 0312.35001)] and is based on the physical phenomenon that the hottest point on an insulated plate with ``almost arbitrary'' initial heat distribution moves toward the boundary of the plate. \textit{B. Kawohl} [Rearrangements and convexity of level sets in PDE. Lecture Notes in Mathematics. 1150. Berlin etc.: Springer-Verlag. (1985; Zbl 0593.35002), p. 45] studied this conjecture with rearrangement techniques. For arbitrary sets, the conjecture is false (see [\textit{K. Burdzy} and \textit{W. Werner}, Ann. Math. (2) 149, No. 1, 309--317 (1999; Zbl 0919.35094)]) and for triangular domains it is known that the conjecture is true for obtuse, right and isosceles triangles. Acute triangles are the main subject of the Polymath7 project where a proof in this special case is given. The aim of this paper is to give an analytic proof for acute triangles if one of the angles is not larger than \(\pi/6\). This proof is based on the method used by \textit{Y. Miyamoto} [Japan J. Ind. Appl. Math. 30, No. 1, 145--164 (2013; Zbl 1260.35090)] to reduce the problem to a problem on the boundary of the domain and requires extensive computer-aided symbolic computations to check the positivity of certain complicated polynomials in two variables.