A free boundary problem for the \(p\)-Laplacian with nonlinear boundary conditions (Q6186419)

The free boundary problem the authors consider is the minimization of the functional \[ F(A,v)=\int_A|\nabla v|^2\,dx+\beta\int_{\partial A}v^2\,d\mathcal{H}^{n-1}+C_0|A| \] among \(v\in H^1(A)\) with \(v=1\) on \(\Omega\), where \(\Omega\) is a fixed set in \(\mathbb{R}^n\) and \(\Omega\subset A\). The positive constants \(\beta,C_0\) are fixed and set \(A\) has also to be determined, so that \(\partial A\) is the free boundary. This problem arises in the context of thermal insulation, where \(\Omega\) is a conducting body and \(A\setminus\Omega\) the insulating layer around \(\Omega\). The constant \(C_0\) represents the cost of the insulating material, while \(\beta\) is the conductivity of the insulating material. The main goal is the existence of a solution and its regularity. More general formulations are also considered, where the set \(A\) can be less regular; in this case a formulation in the space \(\mathrm{SBV}(\mathbb{R}^n)\) has to be used, in order to have the boundary integral well defined. The paper also considers the generalization to nonlinear cases, where the bulk term involves \(|\nabla v|^p\) and the boundary term \(|v|^q\), with fixed exponents \(p,q>1\). The main results are Theorem 1.1 and Theorem 1.2 where, under some assumptions on \(p,q\), the authors prove the existence of a solution \(u\) that satisfies \(u\ge\delta\) for a suitable \(\delta>0\). A mild regularity of the optimal shape of the insulator \(A\) is also provided.