Sign changing solutions of Poisson's equation

Authors

Abstract: Let

O m e g a

be an open, possibly unbounded, set in Euclidean space

R^{m}

with boundary

p a r t i a l O m e g a,

let

A

be a measurable subset of

O m e g a

with measure

| A |

, and let

g a m m a i n (0, 1)

. We investigate whether the solution

v_{O m, A, g a m m a}

of

with

v = 0

on

p a r t i a l O m e g a

changes sign. Bounds are obtained for

| A |

in terms of geometric characteristics of

O m

(bottom of the spectrum of the Dirichlet Laplacian, torsion, measure, or

R

-smoothness of the boundary) such that

m e s s i n f v_{O m, A, g a m m a} g e 0

. We show that

m e s s i n f v_{O m, A, g a m m a} < 0

for any measurable set

A

, provided

| A | > g a m m a | O m |

. This value is sharp. We also study the shape optimisation problem of the optimal location of

A

(with prescribed measure) which minimises the essential infimum of

v_{O m, A, g a m m a}

. Surprisingly, if

O m

is a ball, a symmetry breaking phenomenon occurs.

Recommendations

Cited in

(2)

This page was built for publication: Sign changing solutions of Poisson's equation