The quantitative Faber-Krahn inequality for the Robin Laplacian (Q683483)

Let \(\beta >0\) and \(\Omega \subseteq {\mathbb R}^N\) be an open, bounded, smooth, connected set. The first eigenvalue of the Laplace operator on \(\Omega\) with Robin boundary conditions is denoted by \(\lambda_{1,\beta}(\Omega)\) and is the unique positive number for which the following equation has a solution \(u\) of constant sign \[ \begin{cases} -\Delta u= \lambda_{1,\beta}(\Omega) u& \text{in }\Omega\\ \dfrac{\partial u}{\partial \nu} +\beta \,u =0 & \text{on }\partial\Omega.\end{cases} \] Above \(\nu\) denotes the outer unit normal to \(\partial \Omega\). Let \(B\) a ball of the same volume as \(\Omega\). The main result of this paper is the following quantitative inequality \[ \lambda_{1,\beta}(\Omega) - \lambda_{1,\beta}(B) \geq c \mathcal A^2 (\Omega), \] where \(c\) is a positive constant depending only on \(N, \beta, |\Omega|\); \(\mathcal A (\Omega)\) is the \textsl{Fraenkel asymmetry} of \(\Omega\), which is defined by \(\mathcal A (\Omega)= \min \Big \{ \frac{|\Omega \Delta (x_0+B)|}{|B|}: x_0\in {\mathbb R}^N\Big \}\) (the symbol \(\Delta\) stands for the symmetric difference between sets). The power 2 on the Fraenkel asymmetry is sharp. The constant \(c\) is explicit but is not optimal. The proof is based on the use of the \textit{selection principle} by \textit{M. Cicalese} and \textit{G. P. Leonardi} [Arch. Ration. Mech. Anal. 206, No. 2, 617--643 (2012; Zbl 1257.49045)].