Spindle Starshaped Sets

In this paper, spindle starshaped sets are introduced and investigated, which apart from normalization form an everywhere dense subfamily within the family of starshaped sets. We focus on proving spindle starshaped analogues of recent theorems of Bobylev, Breen, Toranzos, and Zamfirescu on starshaped sets. Finally, we consider the problem of guarding treasures in an art gallery (in the traditional linear way as well as via spindles).Comment: 16 pages, 2 figure

Initial trace of solutions of Hamilton-Jacobi parabolic equation with absorption

Here we study the initial trace problem for the nonnegative solutions of the equation $$u\_{t}-\Delta u+|\nabla u|^{q}=0$$ in $Q\_{\Omega,T}=\Omega\times\left( 0,T\right) ,$ $T\leqq\infty,$ where $q>0,$ and $\Omega=\mathbb{R}^{N},$ or $\Omega$ is a smooth bounded domain of $\mathbb{R}^{N}$ and $u=0$ on $\partial\Omega\times\left( 0,T\right) .$ We can define the trace at $t=0$ as a nonnegative Borel measure $(\mathcal{S} ,u\_{0}),$ where $S$ is the closed set where it is infinite, and $u\_{0}$ is a Radon measure on $\Omega\backslash\mathcal{S}.$ We show that the trace is a Radon measure when $q\leqq1.$ For $q\in(1,(N+2)/(N+1)$ and any given Borel measure, we show the existence of a minimal solution, and a maximal one on conditions on $u\_{0}.$ When $\mathcal{S}$ $=\overline{\omega}\cap\Omega$ and $\omega$ is an open subset of $\Omega,$ the existence extends to any $q\leqq2$ when $u\_{0}\in L\_{loc}^{1}(\Omega)$ and any $q>1$ when $u\_{0}=0$. In particular there exists a self-similar nonradial solution with trace $(\mathbb{R}^{N+},0),$ with a growth rate of order $\left\vert x\right\vert ^{q^{\prime}}$ as $\left\vert x\right\vert \rightarrow\infty$ for fixed $t.$ Moreover we show that the solutions with trace $(\overline{\omega},0)$ in $Q\_{\mathbb{R}^{N},T}$ may present near $t=0$ a growth rate of order $t^{-1/(q-1)}$ in $\omega$ and of order $t^{-(2-q)/(q-1)}$ on $\partial \omega.

Starshapedeness for fully-nonlinear equations in Carnot groups

In this paper we establish the starshapedness of the level sets of the capacitary potential of a large class of fully-nonlinear equations for condensers in Carnot groups, once a natural notion of starshapedness has been introduced. Our main result is Theorem 1.2 below.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Journal of the London Mathematical Societ

Geometric-type Sobolev inequalities and applications to the regularity of minimizers

The purpose of this paper is twofold. We first prove a weighted Sobolev inequality and part of a weighted Morrey's inequality, where the weights are a power of the mean curvature of the level sets of the function appearing in the inequalities. Then, as main application of our inequalities, we establish new $L^q$ and $W^{1,q}$ estimates for semi-stable solutions of $-\Delta u=g(u)$ in a bounded domain $\Omega$ of $\mathbb{R}^n$. These estimates lead to an $L^{2n/(n-4)}(\Omega)$ bound for the extremal solution of $-\Delta u=\lambda f(u)$ when $n\geq 5$ and the domain is convex. We recall that extremal solutions are known to be bounded in convex domains if $n\leq 4$, and that their boundedness is expected ---but still unkwown--- for $n\leq 9$.Comment: 20 pages; 1 figur

Topology of geometric joins

We consider the geometric join of a family of subsets of the Euclidean space. This is a construction frequently used in the (colorful) Carath\'eodory and Tverberg theorems, and their relatives. We conjecture that when the family has at least $d+1$ sets, where $d$ is the dimension of the space, then the geometric join is contractible. We are able to prove this when $d$ equals $2$ and $3$, while for larger $d$ we show that the geometric join is contractible provided the number of sets is quadratic in $d$. We also consider a matroid generalization of geometric joins and provide similar bounds in this case

Separable solutions of quasilinear Lane-Emden equations

For $0 < p-1 < q$ and $\ge=\pm 1$, we prove the existence of solutions of -\Gd_pu=\ge u^q in a cone $C_S$, with vertex 0 and opening $S$, vanishing on \prt C_S, under the form u(x)=|x|^\gb\gw(\frac{x}{|x|}). The problem reduces to a quasilinear elliptic equation on $S$ and existence is based upon degree theory and homotopy methods. We also obtain a non-existence result in some critical case by an integral type identity.Comment: To appear in Journal of the European Mathematical Societ

Solutions of some nonlinear parabolic equations with initial blow-up

We study the existence and uniqueness of solutions of $\partial_tu-\Delta u+u^q=0$ ($q>1$) in $\Omega\times (0,\infty)$ where $\Omega\subset\mathbb R^N$ is a domain with a compact boundary, subject to the conditions $u=f\geq 0$ on $\partial\Omega\times (0,\infty)$ and the initial condition $\lim_{t\to 0}u(x,t)=\infty$. By means of Brezis' theory of maximal monotone operators in Hilbert spaces, we construct a minimal solution when $f=0$, whatever is the regularity of the boundary of the domain. When $\partial\Omega$ satisfies the parabolic Wiener criterion and $f$ is continuous, we construct a maximal solution and prove that it is the unique solution which blows-up at $t=0$

Polytopal Bier spheres and Kantorovich-Rubinstein polytopes of weighted cycles

The problem of deciding if a given triangulation of a sphere can be realized as the boundary sphere of a simplicial, convex polytope is known as the "Simplicial Steinitz problem". It is known by an indirect and non-constructive argument that a vast majority of Bier spheres are non-polytopal. Contrary to that, we demonstrate that the Bier spheres associated to threshold simplicial complexes are all polytopal. Moreover, we show that all Bier spheres are starshaped. We also establish a connection between Bier spheres and Kantorovich-Rubinstein polytopes by showing that the boundary sphere of the KR-polytope associated to a polygonal linkage (weighted cycle) is isomorphic to the Bier sphere of the associated simplicial complex of "short sets"