Extremal first Dirichlet eigenvalue of doubly connected plane domains and dihedral symmetry

We deal with the following eigenvalue optimization problem: Given a bounded domain $D\subset \R^2$, how to place an obstacle $B$ of fixed shape within $D$ so as to maximize or minimize the fundamental eigenvalue $\lambda_1$ of the Dirichlet Laplacian on $D\setminus B$. This means that we want to extremize the function $\rho\mapsto \lambda_1(D\setminus \rho (B))$, where $\rho$ runs over the set of rigid motions such that $\rho (B)\subset D$. We answer this problem in the case where both $D$ and $B$ are invariant under the action of a dihedral group $\mathbb{D}_n$, $n\ge2$, and where the distance from the origin to the boundary is monotonous as a function of the argument between two axes of symmetry. The extremal configurations correspond to the cases where the axes of symmetry of $B$ coincide with those of $D$.Comment: To appear in SIAM Journal on Mathematical Analysi

Where to place a spherical obstacle so as to maximize the second Dirichlet eigenvalue

We prove that among all doubly connected domains of $\mathbb{R}^n$ bounded by two spheres of given radii, the second eigenvalue of the Dirichlet Laplacian achieves its maximum when the spheres are concentric (spherical shell). The corresponding result for the first eigenvalue has been established by Hersch in dimension 2, and by Harrell, Kr\"oger and Kurata and Kesavan in any dimension. We also prove that the same result remains valid when the ambient space $\mathbb{R}^n$ is replaced by the standard sphere $\mathbb{S}^n$ or the hyperbolic space $\mathbb{H}^n$ .Comment: To appear in Communications in Pure and Applied Analysi

Optimal Shapes for the First Dirichlet Eigenvalue of the pp-Laplacian and Dihedral symmetry

In this paper, we consider the optimization problem for the first Dirichlet eigenvalue $\lambda_1(\Omega)$ of the $p$-Laplacian $\Delta_p$, $1< p< \infty$, over a family of doubly connected planar domains $\Omega= B \setminus \overline{P}$, where $B$ is an open disk and $P\subsetneq B$ is a domain which is invariant under the action of a dihedral group $\mathbb{D}_n$ for some $n \geq 2,\;n\in \mathbb{N}$. We study the behaviour of $\lambda_1$ with respect to the rotations of $P$ about its center. We prove that the extremal configurations correspond to the cases where $\Omega$ is symmetric with respect to the line containing both the centers. Among these optimizing domains, the OFF configurations correspond to the minimizing ones while the ON configurations correspond to the maximizing ones. Furthermore, we obtain symmetry (periodicity) and monotonicity properties of $\lambda_1$ with respect to these rotations. In particular, we prove that the conjecture formulated in [14] for $n$ odd and $p=2$ holds true. As a consequence of our monotonicity results, we show that if the nodal set of a second eigenfunction of the $p$-Laplacian possesses a dihedral symmetry of the same order as that of $P$, then it can not enclose $P$.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figure

On the placement of an obstacle so as to optimize the Dirichlet heat trace

We prove that among all doubly connected domains of $\R^n$ bounded by two spheres of given radii, $Z(t)$, the trace of the heat kernel with Dirichlet boundary conditions, achieves its minimum when the spheres are concentric (i.e., for the spherical shell). The supremum is attained when the interior sphere is in contact with the outer sphere.This is shown to be a special case of a more general theorem characterizing the optimal placement of a spherical obstacle inside a convex domain so as to maximize or minimize the trace of the Dirichlet heat kernel. In this case the minimizing position of the center of the obstacle belongs to the "heart" of the domain, while the maximizing situation occurs either in the interior of the heart or at a point where the obstacle is in contact with the outer boundary. Similar statements hold for the optimal positions of the obstaclefor any spectral property that can be obtained as a positivity-preserving or positivity-reversing transform of $Z(t)$,including the spectral zeta function and, through it, the regularized determinant.Comment: in SIAM Journal on Mathematical Analysis, Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, 201

Some recent developments on the Steklov eigenvalue problem

The Steklov eigenvalue problem, first introduced over 125 years ago, has seen a surge of interest in the past few decades. This article is a tour of some of the recent developments linking the Steklov eigenvalues and eigenfunctions of compact Riemannian manifolds to the geometry of the manifolds. Topics include isoperimetric-type upper and lower bounds on Steklov eigenvalues (first in the case of surfaces and then in higher dimensions), stability and instability of eigenvalues under deformations of the Riemannian metric, optimisation of eigenvalues and connections to free boundary minimal surfaces in balls, inverse problems and isospectrality, discretisation, and the geometry of eigenfunctions. We begin with background material and motivating examples for readers that are new to the subject. Throughout the tour, we frequently compare and contrast the behavior of the Steklov spectrum with that of the Laplace spectrum. We include many open problems in this rapidly expanding area.Comment: 157 pages, 7 figures. To appear in Revista Matem\'atica Complutens

Discrete Differential Geometry

This is the collection of extended abstracts for the 24 lectures and the open problems session at the third Oberwolfach workshop on Discrete Differential Geometry

Two Generator groups acting on the complex hyperbolic plane

This is an expository article about groups generated by two isometries of the complex hyperbolic plane.Comment: 49 pages, 10 figures. It will appear as a chapter of Volume VI of the Handbook of Teichmuller theor

Bifurcation analysis of the Topp model

In this paper, we study the 3-dimensional Topp model for the dynamicsof diabetes. We show that for suitable parameter values an equilibrium of this modelbifurcates through a Hopf-saddle-node bifurcation. Numerical analysis suggests thatnear this point Shilnikov homoclinic orbits exist. In addition, chaotic attractors arisethrough period doubling cascades of limit cycles.Keywords Dynamics of diabetes · Topp model · Reduced planar quartic Toppsystem · Singular point · Limit cycle · Hopf-saddle-node bifurcation · Perioddoubling bifurcation · Shilnikov homoclinic orbit · Chao