Non-isoparametric Serrin domains of $\mathbb{S}^3$ with connected toric boundary

Abstract

We investigate the overdetermined torsion problem $\begin{cases} -\Delta u = 1 & \text{in}\ \Omega\\ u=0 & \text{on}\ \partial \Omega\\ \frac{\partial u}{\partial \nu}=\text{const.} & \text{on}\ \partial \Omega, \end{cases}$ where $\Omega$ is a smooth Riemannian domain. Domains admitting a solution to this problem are called \textit{Serrin domains}, after the celebrated work of Serrin \cite{Se71}, where is proved that in $\mathbb{R}^n$ such domains are geodesic balls. In the present paper we establish the existence of two distinct types of Serrin domains of $\mathbb{S}^3$, respectively of small and large volume, each of whose boundary is connected and is neither isometric to a geodesic sphere nor to a Clifford torus. These domains arise as nontrivial perturbations of some classical symmetric solutions to the same problem. Our approach relies on an implicit construction based on the Crandall-Rabinowitz bifurcation theorem, which allows us to detect branches of non-radial solutions bifurcating from a family of radial ones. The resulting examples highlight new geometric configurations of the torsion problem in the three-dimensional sphere, providing another proof of the fact that the rigidity of Serrin-type results can fail in the presence of curvature.