Regularity of minimizers of shape optimization problems involving perimeter (Q1685056)

If \({\mathcal A}\) is a class of domains in \(\mathbb R^d\) and \(J:{\mathcal A}\to\mathbb R\) is a given shape functional, then a shape optimization problems is to minimize \(\{J(\Omega);\;\Omega\in{\mathcal A}\}\). The most important example of a shape optimization is the question of minimizing the perimeter \(J=P\) defined as \(P(D)={\mathcal H}^{d-1}(\partial\Omega)\) when \(D\) is smooth under volume constraint. The well-known isoperimetric inequality asserts that the ball is the unique minimizer for this problem. In more general situations, for example for the constrained isoperimetric problem \(\min\{P(\Omega);\;|\Omega|=m\;\Omega\subset D\}\), where \(D\) is a box in \(\mathbb R^d\) too narrow to contain a ball of volume \(m\), the regularity issue is not trivial. It was proved that, if \(D\) is bounded, an optimal shape \(\Omega^*\) exists in the class of sets of finite perimeter and that \(\partial\Omega\cap D\) is smooth if \(d\leq 7\). An optimal shape \(\Omega^*\) is called a quasi-minimizer of the perimeter if there exist \(C\in\mathbb R\), \(a\in(d-1,d]\), and \(r_0>0\) such that for every ball \(B_r\) with \(r\leq r_0\), \(P(\Omega^*)\leq P(\Omega)+C r^\alpha\) such that \(\Omega\Delta\Omega^*\subset B_r\cap D\) for any \(\Omega\). In [ESAIM Control Optim. Calc. Var. 10, 99--122 (2004; Zbl 1118.35078)], \textit{T.~Briançon} studied the regularity of optimal shapes of the Dirichlet energy \(E_f\) with volume constraint, where \(E_f(\Omega)=\min\limits_u\left\{\int\limits_\Omega\left(\frac12|\nabla u|^2-f u\right)dx\right\}\), \(\Omega\subset D\), \(\Omega\) is open, and \(|\Omega|=a>0\). The author proved that the optimal shapes have \(C^{1,\alpha}\) regularity if \(f\geq 0\). In [Appl. Math. Optim. 69, No. 2, 199--231 (2014; Zbl 1297.49077)], \textit{G.~De Philippis} and \textit{B.~Velichkov} considered the existence and regularity of a solution of the shape optimization problem \( \min \left\{\lambda_k(\Omega)\right\}\) such that \(\Omega\subset\mathbb{R}^d\), \(\Omega\) is open, \(P(\Omega)=1\), and \(|\Omega|<\infty\), where \(\lambda_k\) denotes the \(k\)-th eigenvalue of the Dirichlet Laplacian, that is, the \(k\)-th smallest positive real number such that the equation \(-\Delta u_k = \lambda_k(\Omega) u_k\) has a nontrivial solution, where \(u_k\in H^1_0(\Omega)\). They showed that every solution \(\Omega\) is a bounded connected open set whose boundary is \(C^{1,\alpha}\) outside a closed set of Hausdorff dimension \(d-8\). Analogous results were proved also for more general spectral functionals of the form \(F(\Omega)=f(\lambda_{k_1}(\Omega), \ldots , \lambda_{k_p}(\Omega))\) for increasing functions \(f\:\mathbb{R}^p\to\mathbb{R}\) satisfying a bi-Lipschitz type condition. In this paper, the authors prove the existence and regularity of optimal shapes for the problem \(\min\{P(\Omega)+\mathcal{G}(\Omega);\;\Omega\subset D\;\wedge\;|\Omega|=m\}\), where \(P\) denotes the perimeter, \(|\cdot|\) is the volume, and the functional \(\mathcal{G}\) is either the Dirichlet energy \(E_f\) with respect to a function \(f\in L^p\), or a spectral functional of the form \(F(\lambda_1,\dots,\lambda_k)\), where \(\lambda_k\) is the \(k\)th eigenvalue of the Dirichlet Laplacian and \(F:\mathbb R^k\to\mathbb R\) is locally Lipschitz continuous and increasing in each variable. They show that the solution of the problem is the domain \(D\) that is either the whole space \(\mathbb R^d\) or a bounded domain. Also, they show that every solution \(\Omega^*\) of the problem is bounded and it is a quasi-minimizer of the perimeter with exponent \(d-d/p\) or \(d\), respectively.