Regularity of the optimal sets for the second Dirichlet eigenvalue

Abstract

This paper is dedicated to the regularity of the optimal sets for the second eigenvalue of the Dirichlet Laplacian. Precisely, we prove that if the set $\Omega$ minimizes the functional \[ \mathcal F_\Lambda(\Omega)=\lambda_2(\Omega)+\Lambda |\Omega|, \] among all subsets of a smooth bounded open set $D\subset \mathbb{R}^d$, where $\lambda_2(\Omega)$ is the second eigenvalue of the Dirichlet Laplacian on $\Omega$ and $\Lambda>0$ is a fixed constant, then $\Omega$ is equivalent to the union of two disjoint open sets $\Omega_+$ and $\Omega_-$, which are $C^{1,\alpha}$-regular up to a (possibly empty) closed set of Hausdorff dimension at most $d-5$, contained in the one-phase free boundaries $D\cap \partial\Omega_+\setminus\partial\Omega_-$ and $D\cap\partial\Omega_-\setminus\partial\Omega_+$.