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H. Blaine Lawson, Jr

Publications and source records attributed to H. Blaine Lawson, Jr.

6 recordsLinked to original sources
arXiv2020

Comparison principles by monotonicity and duality for constant coefficient nonlinear potential theory and PDEs

We prove comparison principles for nonlinear potential theories in euclidian spaces in a very straightforward manner from duality and monotonicity. We shall also show how to deduce comparison principles for nonlinear differential operators, a program seemingly different from the first. However, we shall marry these two points of view, for a wide variety of equations, under something called the correspondence principle. In potential theory one is given a constraint set F on the 2-jets of a function, and the boundary of F gives a differential equation. There are many differential operators, suitably organized around F, which give the same equation. So potential theory gives a great strengthening and simplification to the operator theory. Conversely, the set of operators associated to F can have much to say about the potential theory. An object of central interest here is that of monotonicity, which explains and unifies much of the theory. We shall always assume that the maximal monotonicity cone for a potential theory has interior. This is automatic for gradient-free equations where monotonicity is simply the standard degenerate ellipticity and properness assumptions. We show that for each such potential theory F there is an associated canonical operator, defined on the entire 2-jet space and having all the desired properties. Furthermore, comparison holds for this operator on any domain which admits a regular strictly M-subharmonic function, where M is a monotonicity subequation for F. On the operator side there is an important dichotomy into the unconstrained cases and constrained cases, where the operator must be restricted to a proper subset of 2-jet space. These two cases are best illustrated by the canonical operators and Dirichlet-Garding operators, respectively. The article gives many, many examples from pure and applied mathematics, and also from theoretical physics.

math.AP↗
arXiv2018

Pluriharmonics in general potential theories

The general purpose of this paper is to investigate the notion of "pluriharmonics" for the general potential theory associated to a convex cone $F\subset {\rm Sym}^2({\bf R}^n)$. For such $F$ there exists a maximal linear subspace $E\subset F$, called the edge, and $F$ decomposes as $F=E \oplus F_0$. The pluriharmonics or edge functions are $u$'s with $D^2u \in E$. Many subequations $F$ have the same edge $E$, but there is a unique smallest such subequation. These are the focus of this investigation. Structural results are given. Many examples are described, and a classification of highly symmetric cases is given. Finally, the relevance of edge functions to the solutions of the Dirichlet problem is established.

math.AP↗
arXiv2007

Dirichlet Duality and the Nonlinear Dirichlet Problem

We study the Dirichlet problem for fully nonlinear, degenerate elliptic equations of the form f(Hess, u)=0 on a smoothly bounded domain D in R^n. In our approach the equation is replaced by a subset F of the space of symmetric nxn-matrices, with bdy(F) contined in the set {f=0}. We establish the existence and uniqueness of continuous solutions under an explicit geometric ``F-convexity'' assumption on the boundary bdy(F). The topological structure of F-convex domains is also studied and a theorem of Andreotti-Frankel type is proved for them. Two key ingredients in the analysis are the use of subaffine functions and Dirichlet duality, both introduced here. Associated to F is a Dirichlet dual set F* which gives a dual Dirichlet problem. This pairing is a true duality in that the dual of F* is F and in the analysis the roles of F and F* are interchangeable. The duality also clarifies many features of the problem including the appropriate conditions on the boundary. Many interesting examples are covered by these results including: All branches of the homogeneous Monge-Ampere equation over R, C and H; equations appearing naturally in calibrated geometry, Lagrangian geometry and p-convex riemannian geometry, and all branches of the Special Lagrangian potential equation.

math.AP↗
arXiv2006

Plurisubharmonic Functions in Calibrated Geometries

In this paper we introduce and study the notion of plurisubharmonic functions in calibrated geometry. These functions generalize the classical plurisubharmonic functions from complex geometry and enjoy many of their important properties. Moreover, they exist in abundance whereas the corresponding pluriharmonics are generally quite scarce. A number of the results established in complex analysis via plurisubharmonic functions are extended to calibrated manifolds. This paper investigates, in depth, questions of: pseudo-convexity and cores, positive phi-currents, Duval-Sibony Duality, and boundaries of phi-submanifolds, all in the context of a general calibrated manifold (X,phi). Analogues of totally real submanifolds are used to construct enormous families of strictly phi-convex spaces with every topological type allowed by Morse Theory. Specific calibrations are used as examples throughout. Analogues of the Hodge Conjecture in calibrated geometry are considered.

math.CV↗
arXiv2001

Finite volume flows and Morse theory

In this paper we present a new approach to Morse theory based on the de Rham-Federer theory of currents. The full classical theory is derived in a transparent way. The methods carry over uniformly to the equivariant and the holomorphic settings. Moreover, the methods are substantially stronger than the classical ones and have interesting applications to geometry. They lead, for example, to formulae relating characteristic forms and singularities of bundle maps.

math.DG↗