Condensers with touching plates and constrained minimum Riesz and Green energy problems (Q2007616)

Let $A_1,A_2\subset\mathbb{R}^n$, $n\geq 3$, be sets such that $A_1\subset D$ is relatively closed and $A_2\subset D^c$. The sets $A_i$ are thought of as plates (a condenser) which may touch, i.e., $A_2\cap \overline{A_1}$ may have even infinite capacity w.r.t.\ the $\alpha$ Riesz kernel $\kappa(x,y):=|x-y|^{\alpha-n}$, $\alpha\in (0,2]$. Throughout $\mu=\mu^+-\mu^-$ is a Radon measure with Hahn-Jordan decomposition. The authors study minimum energy problems (aka weighted minimum energy problems) related to the kernel $\kappa(x,y)$ and the infimum is taken w.r.t.\ certain classes of signed Radon measures on $\mathbb{R}^n$ satisfying, in particular, $\mathrm{supp}(\mu^+)\subset A_1$, $\mathrm{supp}(\mu^-)\subset A_2$, with the normalization $\mu^+(A_1)=\mu^-(A_2)=1$. The classical condenser problem does not have a solution in this setting, but under an additional requirement, namely $\mu^+\leq\xi$ with a properly chosen $\xi$, the problem admits a unique solution. Typically, $\xi$ is a positive Radon measure supported by $A_1$ and having finite $\kappa$-energy and total mass $1<\xi(A_1)<\infty$. Some examples are given.