Symmetry for a Dirichlet-Neumann problem arising in water waves (Q971487)

Consider the following Dirichlet-Neumann problem for the Laplace operator in the slab \([0,1] \times \mathbb R^n\), whose solution is denoted by \(\overline u(x,y)\), and \(u(y)\) is the boundary datum: \[ \Delta \overline u = 0 \quad\text{in }(0,1)\times \mathbb R^n, \qquad \overline u(0,y)= u(y), \qquad \overline u_x(1,y) = 0.\tag{1} \] Let \(\mathcal L\) be the associated Dirichlet-to-Neumann operator, i.e. the linear operator that transforms the datum \(u(y)\) into the derivative \(\overline u_x(0,y)\) of the solution. Given a nonlinearity \(f \in C^1(\mathbb R)\), we seek for a smooth \(u\) such that \[ (\mathcal L u)(y) = f(u(y))\;\text{ for every }y \in \mathbb R^n. \] In the case \(n = 2\), the authors prove that if \(u\) is a bounded solution of the equation above and satisfies \(u_{y_2} > 0\) in \(\mathbb R^2\), then \(u\) depends on one (suitable) real variable~only, i.e. there exist a unit vector \(\omega\) and a convenient function~\(u_0\) of one real variable such that \(u(y) = u_0(\omega \cdot y)\). A similar result also holds for all~\(n \geq 2\) provided that the quadratic mean of the gradient \(\nabla_y \overline u\) is conveniently bounded. This condition is shown to be automatically satisfied when \(n=2\). The result is obtained by an adaptation of the method in \textit{Y. Sire} and \textit{E. Valdinoci} [J. Funct. Anal. 256, 1842--1864 (2009; Zbl 1163.35019)]. Firstly, the equation \((\mathcal L u)(y) = f(u(y))\) is put in a weak form also involving the solution \(\overline u\) of (1). Then, by specializing the test function and by Cauchy-Schwarz inequality the authors establish an integral estimate extending the weighted Poincaré inequality of \textit{P. Sternberg} and \textit{K. Zumbrun} [Arch. Ration. Mech. Anal. 141, 375--400 (1998; Zbl 0911.49025)] and \textit{P. Sternberg} and \textit{K. Zumbrun} [J. Reine Angew. Math. 503, 63--85 (1998; Zbl 0967.53006)]. The integral estimate is then exploited to prove the claim.