Extremal functions in some interpolation inequalities: Symmetry, symmetry breaking and estimates of the best constants

This contribution is devoted to a review of some recent results on existence, symmetry and symmetry breaking of optimal functions for Caffarelli-Kohn-Nirenberg and weighted logarithmic Hardy inequalities. These results have been obtained in a series of papers in collaboration with M. del Pino, S. Filippas, M. Loss, G. Tarantello and A. Tertikas and are presented from a new viewpoint

Ground States for a Stationary Mean-Field Model for a Nucleon

In this paper we consider a variational problem related to a model for a nucleon interacting with the $\omega$ and $\sigma$ mesons in the atomic nucleus. The model is relativistic, and we study it in a nuclear physics nonrelativistic limit, which is of a very different nature than the nonrelativistic limit in the atomic physics. Ground states are shown to exist for a large class of values for the parameters of the problem, which are determined by the values of some physical constants

Symmetric ground states for a stationary relativistic mean-field model for nucleons in the nonrelativistic limit

In this paper we consider a model for a nucleon interacting with the $\omega$ and $\sigma$ mesons in the atomic nucleus. The model is relativistic, but we study it in the nuclear physics nonrelativistic limit, which is of a very different nature from the one of the atomic physics. Ground states with a given angular momentum are shown to exist for a large class of values for the coupling constants and the mesons' masses. Moreover, we show that, for a good choice of parameters, the very striking shapes of mesonic densities inside and outside the nucleus are well described by the solutions of our model

An analytical proof of Hardy-like inequalities related to the Dirac operator

We prove some sharp Hardy type inequalities related to the Dirac operator by elementary, direct methods. Some of these inequalities have been obtained previously using spectral information about the Dirac-Coulomb operator. Our results are stated under optimal conditions on the asymptotics of the potentials near zero and near infinity.Comment: LaTex, 22 page

Rigidity versus symmetry breaking via nonlinear flows on cylinders and Euclidean spaces

This paper is motivated by the characterization of the optimal symmetry breaking region in Caffarelli-Kohn-Nirenberg inequalities. As a consequence, optimal functions and sharp constants are computed in the symmetry region. The result solves a longstanding conjecture on the optimal symmetry range. As a byproduct of our method we obtain sharp estimates for the principal eigenvalue of Schr\"odinger operators on some non-flat non-compact manifolds, which to the best of our knowledge are new. The method relies on generalized entropy functionals for nonlinear diffusion equations. It opens a new area of research for approaches related to carr\'e du champ methods on non-compact manifolds. However key estimates depend as much on curvature properties as on purely nonlinear effects. The method is well adapted to functional inequalities involving simple weights and also applies to general cylinders. Beyond results on symmetry and symmetry breaking, and on optimal constants in functional inequalities, rigidity theorems for nonlinear elliptic equations can be deduced in rather general settings.Comment: 33 pages, 1 figur