Min-max for phase transitions and the existence of embedded minimal hypersurfaces (Q1700314)

If \((*)\,-\varepsilon\Delta u+\frac{W'(u)}{\varepsilon}=0\) is the semilinear elliptic equation that is a mathematical model for the evolution of phase transition phenomena, where \(W\) is a double-well potential with two strict minima at \(\pm 1\) with \(W(\pm 1) = 0\) and \(\varepsilon\) is a perturbation parameter with \(\varepsilon\to 0\), then the level sets of \(u\) concentrate around a hypersurface, called the limit-interface, that is evolving in time under the action of the mean curvature flow. From a geometrical point of view for solutions of \((*)\), the limit-interface is a stationary point of the mean curvature flow, i.e., a minimal hypersurface. From a variational perspective solutions of the equation \((*)\) in a bounded open set \(U\subset\mathbb R^n\) are critical points of the energy functional \(E_{\varepsilon}(u) = \int_{U}\left( \frac{\varepsilon |\nabla u|^2}{2} + \frac{W(u)}{\varepsilon}\right) dx\) defined on \(H^1(\Omega)\), and variational properties such as stability or finite Morse index of a solution \(u\) are defined as usual, i.e., with respect to the bilinear form corresponding to the second derivative of the energy in \(H^1(U)\). In [J. Reine Angew. Math. 668, 191--210 (2012; Zbl 1244.49077)], \textit{Y. Tonegawa} and \textit{N. Wickramasekera} showed that if \(U\) is a bounded open set in \(\mathbb R^n\), \(u_k\) is a sequence of solutions of \((*)\) in \(U\) with \(\varepsilon_k\to 0\), and \(\sup_U|u_k|\) and \(E_{\varepsilon_k}(u_k)\) are bounded sequences, then as \(\varepsilon_k\to 0\), the level sets of \(u_k\) accumulate around a stationary integral varifold. If, in addition, the solutions are stable, then the limit-interface is a stable minimal hypersurface, smooth and embedded outside a set of Hausdorff dimension at most \(n-8\). In this paper, the author extends the regularity statement for stable phase transition interfaces to the case of solutions with finite Morse index on compact manifolds. It is shown that if \(M\) is an \(n\)-dimensional closed Riemannian manifold, \(u_k\) is a sequence of solutions of \((*)\) in \(M\) with \(\varepsilon_k\to 0\), and their Morse indices, \(\sup_M |u_k|\) and \(E_{\varepsilon_k}(u_k)\) are bounded sequences, then as \(\varepsilon_k\to 0\), its level sets accumulate around a minimal hypersurface, smooth and embedded outside a set of Hausdorff dimension at most \(n-8\). Also, using standard mountain-pass techniques for elliptic operators, the author shows the existence of solutions of \((*)\) with index at most 1 and combines these results to show the existence of embedded minimal hypersurfaces in compact manifolds. By using a Sobolev space version of the isoperimetric inequality, the author gives lower and upper bounds for the energy of mountain-pass solutions of \((*)\), and shows that the limit-interface has area no bigger than the width of level sets of Morse functions.