Existence and regularity of monotone solutions to a free boundary problem

In the first part of this dissertation, we provide the first example of a singular energy minimizing free boundary. This singular solution occurs in dimension 7 and higher, and in fact it is conjectured that there are no singular minimizers in dimension lower than 7. Our example is the analogue of the 8-dimensional Simons cone in the theory of minimal surfaces. The minimality of the Simons cone is closely related to the existence of a complete minimal graph in dimension 9, which is not a hyperplane. The first step toward solving the analogous problem in the free boundary context, consists in developing a local existence and regularity theory for monotone solutions to a free boundary problem. This is the objective of the second part of our thesis. We also provide a partial result in the global context..

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mathematics.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2005

Author dc:creator

• De Silva, Daniela

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• David Jerison.

• Mathematics.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/31160

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/31160