The stationary mean field model of superconductivity: Partial regularity of the free boundary (Q1806150)

This paper deals with the following free boundary problem \[ \Delta q=(q- \psi)\chi_\Omega \text{ in }\mathbb{R}^2,\qquad |\nabla \psi |(q- \psi)= 0\text{ a.e. in }\Omega, \] \(\Omega\) being a bounded domain in \(\mathbb{R}^2\). The system above arises in the mean field theory of superconductivity. The main result is concerned with the regularity of the free boundary, defined as the interface between the coincidence set \(C_0= \{q=\psi\}\) and its complement \(U_0\) (where \(\psi\) is locally constant). The authors prove that the subset of \(C_0\) in which \(\nabla q\) vanishes consists of a finite number of points. The main tool is the extension of a well known theorem by Caffarelli-Friedman on the regularity of the zero-set of functions satisfying the inequality \(|\Delta v|\leq C|v(x)|\), here replaced by \(|\Delta v|\leq C\widehat v(x)\), with \(\widehat v(x)= \sup_{t \in (0,1)}|v(tx) |\) for \(v\in C^0(B_1)\), \(B_1\) being the open ball in \(\mathbb{R}^m\) with radius 1.