Ratios of harmonic functions with the same zero set

Abstract: We study the ratio of harmonic functions

u, v

, which have the same zero set

Z

in the unit ball

B s u b s e t m a t h b b R^{n}

. The ratio

f = u / v

can be extended to a real analytic nowhere vanishing function in

B

. We prove the Harnack inequality and the gradient estimate for such ratios in any dimension: for a given compact set

K s u b s e t B

we show that

s u p_{K} | f | l e C_{1} i n f_{K} | f |

and

s u p_{K} l e f t | a b l a f i g h t | l e C_{2} i n f_{K} | f |

, where

C_{1}

and

C_{2}

depend on

K

and

Z

only. In dimension two we specify the dependence of the constants on

Z

in these inequalities by showing that only the number of nodal domains of

u

, i.e. the number of connected components of

B s e t m i n u s Z

, plays a role.

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