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Maria J. Esteban

Publications and source records attributed to Maria J. Esteban.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
arXiv2017

Symmetry and symmetry breaking: rigidity and flows in elliptic PDEs

The issue of symmetry and symmetry breaking is fundamental in all areas of science. Symmetry is often assimilated to order and beauty while symmetry breaking is the source of many interesting phenomena such as phase transitions, instabilities, segregation, self-organization, etc. In this contribution we review a series of sharp results of symmetry of nonnegative solutions of nonlinear elliptic differential equation associated with minimization problems on Euclidean spaces or manifolds. Nonnegative solutions of those equations are unique, a property that can also be interpreted as a rigidity result. The method relies on linear and nonlinear flows which reveal deep and robust properties of a large class of variational problems. Local results on linear instability leading to symmetry breaking and the bifurcation of non-symmetric branches of solutions are reinterpreted in a larger, global, variational picture in which our flows characterize directions of descent.

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arXiv2016

Interpolation inequalities, nonlinear flows, boundary terms, optimality and linearization

This paper is devoted to the computation of the asymptotic boundary terms in entropy methods applied to a fast diffusion equation with weights associated with Caffarelli-Kohn-Nirenberg interpolation inequalities. So far, only elliptic equations have been considered and our goal is to justify, at least partially, an extension of the carr{é} du champ / Bakry-Emery / R{é}nyi entropy methods to parabolic equations. This makes sense because evolution equations are at the core of the heuristics of the method even when only elliptic equations are considered, but this also raises difficult questions on the regularity and on the growth of the solutions in presence of weights.We also investigate the relations between the optimal constant in the entropy - entropy production inequality, the optimal constant in the information - information production inequality, the asymptotic growth rate of generalized R{é}nyi entropy powers under the action of the evolution equation and the optimal range of parameters for symmetry breaking issues in Caffarelli-Kohn-Nirenberg inequalities, under the assumption that the weights do not introduce singular boundary terms at x=0. These considerations are new even in the case without weights. For instance, we establish the equivalence of carr{é} du champ and R{é}nyi entropy methods and explain why entropy methods produce optimal constants in entropy - entropy production and Gagliardo-Nirenberg inequalities in absence of weights, or optimal symmetry ranges when weights are present.

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arXiv2016

Onofri inequalities and rigidity results

This paper is devoted to the Moser-Trudinger-Onofri inequality on smooth compact connected Riemannian manifolds. We establish a rigidity result for the Euler-Lagrange equation and deduce an estimate of the optimal constant in the inequality on two-dimensional closed Riemannian manifolds. Compared to existing results, we provide a non-local criterion which is well adapted to variational methods, introduce a nonlinear flow along which the evolution of a functional related with the inequality is monotone and get an integral remainder term which allows us to discuss optimality issues. As an important application of our method, we also consider the non-compact case of the Moser-Trudinger-Onofri inequality on the two-dimensional Euclidean space, with weights. The standard weight is the one that is computed when projecting the two-dimensional sphere using the stereographic projection, but we also give more general results which are of interest, for instance, for the Keller-Segel model in chemotaxis.

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arXiv2016

Symmetry for extremal functions in subcritical Caffarelli-Kohn-Nirenberg inequalities

We use the formalism of the R{é}nyi entropies to establish the symmetry range of extremal functions in a family of subcriti-cal Caffarelli-Kohn-Nirenberg inequalities. By extremal functions we mean functions which realize the equality case in the inequalities, written with optimal constants. The method extends recent results on critical Caffarelli-Kohn-Nirenberg inequalities. Using heuristics given by a nonlinear diffusion equation, we give a variational proof of a symmetry result, by establishing a rigidity theorem: in the symmetry region, all positive critical points have radial symmetry and are therefore equal to the unique positive, radial critical point, up to scalings and multiplications. This result is sharp. The condition on the parameters is indeed complementary of the condition which determines the region in which symmetry breaking holds as a consequence of the linear instability of radial optimal functions. Compared to the critical case, the subcritical range requires new tools. The Fisher information has to be replaced by R{é}nyi entropy powers, and since some invariances are lost, the estimates based on the Emden-Fowler transformation have to be modified.

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arXiv2016

Symmetry of optimizers of the Caffarelli-Kohn-Nirenberg inequalities

In their simplest form, the Caffarelli-Kohn-Nirenberg inequalities are a two parameter family of inequalities. It has been known that there is a region in parameter space where the optimizers for the inequalities have broken symmetry. It has been shown recently that in the complement of this region the optimizers are radially symmetric. The ideas for the proof will be given.

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arXiv2015

Interpolation inequalities on the sphere: linear vs. nonlinear flows

This paper is devoted to sharp interpolation inequalities on the sphere and their proof using flows. The method explains some rigidity results and proves uniqueness in related semilinear elliptic equations. Nonlinear flows allow to cover the interval of exponents ranging from Poincaré to Sobolev inequality, while an intriguing limitation (an upper bound on the exponent) appears in the carré du champ method based on the heat flow. We investigate this limitation, describe a counter-example for exponents which are above the bound, and obtain improvements below.

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arXiv2015

Keller-Lieb-Thirring inequalities for Schrödinger operators on cylinders

This note is devoted to Keller-Lieb-Thirring spectral estimates for Schrödinger operators on infinite cylinders: the absolute value of the ground state level is bounded by a function of a norm of the potential. Optimal potentials with small norms are shown to depend on a single variable. The proof is a perturbation argument based on recent rigidity results for nonlinear elliptic equations on cylinders. Conversely, optimal single variable potentials with large norms must be unstable. The optimal threshold between the two regimes is established in the case of the product of a sphere by a line.

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arXiv2015

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 Schrödinger 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 carré 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.

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arXiv2015

The Moser-Trudinger-Onofri inequality

This paper is devoted to results on the Moser-Trudinger-Onofri inequality, or Onofri inequality for brevity. In dimension two this inequality plays a role similar to the Sobolev inequality in higher dimensions. After justifying this statement by recovering the Onofri inequality through various limiting procedures and after reviewing some known results, we state several elementary remarks. We also prove various new results. We give a proof of the inequality using mass transportation methods (in the radial case), consistently with similar results for Sobolev's inequalities. We investigate how duality can be used to improve the Onofri inequality, in connection with the logarithmic Hardy-Littlewood-Sobolev inequality. In the framework of fast diffusion equations, we establish that the inequality is an entropy--entropy production inequality, which provides an integral remainder term. Finally we give a proof of the inequality based on rigidity methods and introduce a related nonlinear flow.

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arXiv2014

Rigidity results with applications to best constants and symmetry of Caffarelli-Kohn-Nirenberg and logarithmic Hardy inequalities

We take advantage of a rigidity result for the equation satisfied by an extremal function associated with a special case of the Caffarelli-Kohn-Nirenberg inequalities to get a symmetry result for a larger set of inequali-ties. The main ingredient is a reparametrization of the solutions to the Euler-Lagrange equations and estimates based on the rigidity result. The symmetry results cover a range of parameters which go well beyond the one that can be achieved by symmetrization methods or comparison techniques so far.

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arXiv2014

Nonlinear flows and rigidity results on compact manifolds

This paper is devoted to rigidity results for some elliptic PDEs and related interpolation inequalities of Sobolev type on smooth compact connected Riemannian manifolds without boundaries. Rigidity means that the PDE has no other solution than the constant one at least when a parameter is in a certain range. This parameter can be used as an estimate for the best constant in the corresponding interpolation inequality. Our approach relies in a nonlinear flow of porous medium / fast diffusion type which gives a clear-cut interpretation of technical choices of exponents done in earlier works. We also establish two integral criteria for rigidity that improve upon known, pointwise conditions, and hold for general manifolds without positivity conditions on the curvature. Using the flow, we are also able to discuss the optimality of the corresponding constant in the interpolation inequalities.

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arXiv2014

One-dimensional Gagliardo-Nirenberg-Sobolev inequalities: Remarks on duality and flows

This paper is devoted to one-dimensional interpolation Gagliardo-Nirenberg-Sobolev inequalities. We study how various notions of duality, transport and monotonicity of functionals along flows defined by some nonlinear diffusion equations apply. We start by reducing the inequality to a much simpler dual variational problem using mass transportation theory. Our second main result is devoted to the construction of a Lyapunov functional associated with a nonlinear diffusion equation, that provides an alternative proof of the inequality. The key observation is that the inequality on the line is equivalent to Sobolev's inequality on the sphere, at least when the dimension is an integer, or to the critical interpolation inequality for the ultraspherical operator in the general case. The time derivative of the functional along the flow is itself very interesting. It explains the machinery of some rigidity estimates for nonlinear elliptic equations and shows how eigenvalues of a linearized problem enter in the computations. Notions of gradient flows are then discussed for various notions of distances. Throughout this paper we shall deal with two classes of inequalities corresponding either to p>2 or to p<2. The algebraic part in the computations is very similar in both cases, although the case p<2 is definitely less standard.

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arXiv2014

Improved interpolation inequalities on the sphere

This paper contains a review of available methods for establishing improved interpolation inequalities on the sphere for subcritical exponents. Pushing further these techniques we also establish some new results, clarify the range of applicability of the various existing methods and state several explicit estimates.

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arXiv2013

Branches of non-symmetric critical points and symmetry breaking in nonlinear elliptic partial differential equations

In this paper we study the bifurcation of branches of non-symmetric solutions from the symmetric branch of solutions to the Euler-Lagrange equations satisfied by optimal functions in functional inequalities of Caffarelli-Kohn-Nirenberg type. We establish the asymptotic behavior of the branches for large values of the bifurcation parameter. We also perform an expansion in a neighborhood of the first bifurcation point on the branch of symmetric solutions, that characterizes the local behavior of the non-symmetric branch. These results are compatible with earlier numerical and theoretical observations. Further numerical results allow us to distinguish two global scenarios. This sheds a new light on the symmetry breaking phenomenon.

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arXiv2013

Spectral estimates on the sphere

In this article we establish optimal estimates for the first eigenvalue of Schrödinger operators on the d-dimensional unit sphere. These estimates depend on Lebsgue's norms of the potential, or of its inverse, and are equivalent to interpolation inequalities on the sphere. We also characterize a semi-classical asymptotic regime and discuss how our estimates on the sphere differ from those on the Euclidean space.

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arXiv2012

Sharp interpolation inequalities on the sphere : new methods and consequences

These notes are devoted to various considerations on a family of sharp interpolation inequalities on the sphere, which in dimension two and higher interpolate between Poincaré, logarithmic Sobolev and critical Sobolev (Onofri in dimension two) inequalities. We emphasize the connexion between optimal constants and spectral properties of the Laplace-Beltrami operator on the sphere. We shall address a series of related observations and give proofs based on symmetrization and the ultraspherical setting.

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arXiv2012

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 $ω$ and $σ$ 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.

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