Regularity of almost minimizers with free boundary (Q493189)

The authors study the local regularity of almost minimizers of the functional \[ J(u)=\int_\Omega (|\nabla u(x)|^2+q_+^2(x)\chi_{\{u>0\}}(x)+q_-^2(x)\chi_{\{u<0\}}(x))\mathop{}\mathopen{}\mathrm{d}x, \] where \(q_\pm\in L^\infty(\Omega)\) are given bounded functions on a bounded domain \(\Omega\). The existence of a minimizer \(u\) under the Dirichlet condition \(u=u_0\) on \(\partial \Omega\) and the optimal regularity of \(u\) if \(\Omega\) is Lipschitz was proved by \textit{H. W. Alt} and \textit{L. A. Caffarelli} [J. Reine Angew. Math. 325, 105--144 (1981; Zbl 0449.35105)] when \(u_0\geq 0\), \(q_-=0\), \(q_+\in L^\infty(\Omega)\), and by \textit{H. W. Alt} et al. [Trans. Am. Math. Soc. 282, 431--461 (1984; Zbl 0844.35137)] when \(q_\pm\in L^\infty(\Omega)\) (without conditions on the sign of \(u_0\)). Contrary to minimizers, almost minimizers do not satisfy a PDE or a monotonicity formula which are the key ingredients in the previous works. Instead, the authors use comparison with appropriate competitors to almost minimizers obtained by harmonic extension on balls. With this method, they are able to prove that almost minimizers \(u\) are locally Lipschitz in \(\{u>0\}\) and \(\{u<0\}\) when \(q_-=0\) and \(u\geq 0\) a.e. The proof of the general case requires the use of an almost monotonicity formula. When \(q_+\) is bounded below away from \(0\), the authors also prove a non-degeneracy property on almost minimizers ; namely, if \(u_+\) is small enough on a ball \(B\), then it vanishes on \(\frac 14 B\). This implies non-degeneracy properties on \(u\) near the free boundary \(\partial \{u>0\}\).