Dirichlet Duality and the Nonlinear Dirichlet Problem

We study the Dirichlet problem for fully nonlinear, degenerate elliptic equations of the form f(Hess, u)=0 on a smoothly bounded domain D in R^n. In our approach the equation is replaced by a subset F of the space of symmetric nxn-matrices, with bdy(F) contined in the set {f=0}. We establish the existence and uniqueness of continuous solutions under an explicit geometric ``F-convexity'' assumption on the boundary bdy(F). The topological structure of F-convex domains is also studied and a theorem of Andreotti-Frankel type is proved for them. Two key ingredients in the analysis are the use of subaffine functions and Dirichlet duality, both introduced here. Associated to F is a Dirichlet dual set F* which gives a dual Dirichlet problem. This pairing is a true duality in that the dual of F* is F and in the analysis the roles of F and F* are interchangeable. The duality also clarifies many features of the problem including the appropriate conditions on the boundary. Many interesting examples are covered by these results including: All branches of the homogeneous Monge-Ampere equation over R, C and H; equations appearing naturally in calibrated geometry, Lagrangian geometry and p-convex riemannian geometry, and all branches of the Special Lagrangian potential equation

The Dirichlet problem

Thesis (M.A.)--Boston UniversityThe problem of finding the solution to a general eliptic type partial differential equation, when the boundary values are given, is generally referred to as the Dirichlet Problem. In this paper I consider the special eliptic equation of ∇2 J=0 which is Laplace's equation, and I limit myself to the case of two dimensions. Subject to these limitations I discuss five proofs for the existence of a solution to Laplace's equation for arbitrary regions where the boundary values are given. [TRUNCATED

Eigenvalue bounds of mixed Steklov problems

We study bounds on the Riesz means of the mixed Steklov-Neumann and Steklov-Dirichlet eigenvalue problem on a bounded domain $\Omega$ in $\mathbb{R}^n$. The Steklov-Neumann eigenvalue problem is also called the sloshing problem. We obtain two-term asymptotically sharp lower bounds on the Riesz means of the sloshing problem and also provide an asymptotically sharp upper bound for the Riesz means of mixed Steklov-Dirichlet problem. The proof of our results for the sloshing problem uses the average variational principle and monotonicity of sloshing eigenvalues. In the case of Steklov-Dirichlet eigenvalue problem, the proof is based on a well-known bound on the Riesz means of the Dirichlet fractional Laplacian and an inequality between the Dirichlet and Navier fractional Laplacian. The two-term asymptotic results for the Riesz means of mixed Steklov eigenvalue problems are discussed in the appendix which in particular show the asymptotic sharpness of the bounds we obtain.Comment: An appendix by by F. Ferrulli and J. Lagac\'e is added; some changes in the introduction are mad

Dirichlet to Neumann Maps for Infinite Quantum Graphs

The Dirichlet problem and Dirichlet to Neumann map are analyzed for elliptic equations on a large collection of infinite quantum graphs. For a dense set of continuous functions on the graph boundary, the Dirichlet to Neumann map has values in the Radon measures on the graph boundary