Spectral stability for a class of fourth order Steklov problems under domain perturbations (Q1755649)

Given a bounded connected open set $\Omega \subset \mathbb{R}^N$ ($N\geq 2$), the authors consider the Dirichlet Biharmonic Steklov eigenvalue problem \[ \begin{cases} \Delta^2 u=0, &\text{in }\Omega,\\ u=0, &\text{on } \partial \Omega,\\ \Delta u-du_\nu=0,&\text{on } \partial \Omega, \end{cases}\tag{1} \] and its variant \[ \begin{cases} \Delta^2 u=0, &\text{in } \Omega,\\ u=0, &\text{on } \partial \Omega,\\ \Delta u-K(x)u_\nu-du_\nu=0,&\text{on } \partial \Omega, \end{cases}\tag{2} \] where $u_\nu$ denotes the normal derivative of $u$ on the boundary, $K(x)$ is the mean curvature of the boundary, and $d,\delta$ are real parameters. The domain $\Omega$ is assumed to have a boundary satisfying a certain $C^{1,1}$-regularity. The authors study spectral stability properties for problems (1), (2) upon domain perturbation. More precisely, the authors introduce the Steklov operators $S_\Delta,S_D^2$ associated to problems (1), (2), acting in the space $V(\Omega):=H_0^1(\Omega)\cap H^2(\Omega)$, and prove that if $\{\Omega_\varepsilon \}_{\varepsilon>0}$ is a family of domains having the above $C^{1,1}$ regularity, which converges in a suitable sense to a $C^{1,1}$-domain $\Omega$, the corresponding families of Steklov operators \[ S_{\Delta,\varepsilon},S_{D^2,\varepsilon}:V(\Omega_\varepsilon)\rightarrow V(\Omega_\varepsilon) \] converge, as $\varepsilon\rightarrow 0$, to the operators $S_\Delta,S_D^2:V(\Omega)\rightarrow V(\Omega)$, respectively, according to a suitable notion of compact convergence. Since the (nonzero) eigenvalues of $S_\Delta,S_D^2$ are exactly the inverses of the (nonzero) eigenvalues of problems (1) and (2), the above convergence of $S_{\Delta,\varepsilon},S_{D^2,\varepsilon}$ implies the convergence of the eigenvalues and eigenfunctions of problems (1) and (2) on the domain $\Omega_\varepsilon$ to the corresponding eigenvalues and eigenfunctions on the domain $\Omega$. \par The authors also discuss the optimality of the above convergence condition on the family $\{\Omega_\varepsilon \}_{\varepsilon>0}$ by analyzing the case $\Omega=W\times (-1,0)$, where $W$ is a cuboid or a bounded domain in $\mathbb{R}^{N-1}$, and $\Omega_\varepsilon =\{(x',x_N): x'\in W, \ -1$<$x_N$<$\varepsilon^\alpha b(x'/\varepsilon)\}$, where $b:\mathbb{R}^{N-1}\rightarrow [0,\infty)$ is a nonconstant $(-1/2,1/2)^{N-1}$-periodic function. In particular, under Dirichlet boundary conditions on \[ \partial \Omega_\varepsilon \setminus\{(x',\varepsilon^\alpha b(x'/\varepsilon)), x'\in W\} \ \text{ and } \ \partial \Omega \setminus W\times\{0\}, \] the authors prove that the above convergence condition is satisfied for $\alpha>\frac{3}{2}$ and it is not satisfied for $\alpha\leq \frac{3}{2}$. More precisely, the authors show that for $\alpha=\frac{3}{2}$ the eigenvalues $\delta_n(\varepsilon)$ of problem $(2)$ in $\Omega_\varepsilon$ converge, as $\varepsilon \rightarrow 0$, to the corresponding eigenvalues of the same problem in $\Omega$ plus the ``strange curvature'' $\gamma$ involved in the Babuska Paradox. In addition, they show that $\delta_n(\varepsilon)$ diverges when $\alpha<\frac{3}{2}$. \par The eigenvalue convergence is also analyzed for a weak formulation of problem $(1)$ given in terms of an eigenvalue problem for a Dirichlet-to-Neumann-type map $\mathcal{N}_\Omega$ in a suitable space, where the weaker $C^{0,1}$-regularity on the domain $\Omega$ is assumed. In this setting, the authors are able to prove that, under a weaker convergence condition on the perturbed domains $\{\Omega_\varepsilon \}_{\varepsilon>0}$, one has $\mathcal{N}_{\Omega_{\varepsilon}} \rightarrow \mathcal{N}_\Omega$ with respect to a notion of compact convergence. \par From this result the authors derive stability/instability for Navier and Navier-type problems. However, from the same result, stability properties for the spectrum of the Steklov problem (1) cannot be deduced. Thus, knowing whether the spectrum of the Steklov problem (1) is stable/unstable under weaker convergence conditions on the perturbed domains $\{\Omega_\varepsilon \}_{\varepsilon>0}$ is proposed as an open problem.