English

Shape Optimization for the Principal Eigenvalue of the Pucci Operator in Three Dimensions

Analysis of PDEs 2026-03-26 v1

Abstract

We investigate shape optimization for the principal eigenvalue of the Pucci extremal operator {Mλ,Λ+(D2u)=μ1+(Ω)uin Ω,u=0on Ω, \left\{ \begin{aligned} -\mathcal{M}^+_{\lambda,\Lambda}(D^{2}u)&=\mu^{+}_{1}(\Omega)u &&\text{in }\Omega,\\ u &=0 &&\text{on }\partial\Omega, \end{aligned} \right. in dimension three. Since Mλ,Λ+\mathcal{M}^+_{\lambda,\Lambda} is fully nonlinear, in non-divergence form, and non-variational, classical symmetrization and rearrangement methods are not available. We introduce a three-dimensional family of double--pyramidal domains {Ωγ,aω}\{\Omega^\omega_{\gamma,a}\} parametrized by an anisotropy factor γ[1ω,ω]\gamma \in \left[\frac{1}{\sqrt{\omega}},\sqrt{\omega}\right] and an affine shear parameter a(π,π)a\in(-\pi,\pi), under fixed ellipticity ratio ω=Λ/λ1\omega=\Lambda/\lambda \ge 1. Within this family and under a fixed-volume constraint, we prove that the volume-normalized principal eigenvalue is uniquely minimized at the symmetric unsheared configuration (γ,a)=(1,0)(\gamma,a)=(1,0) among domains in the family {Ωγ,aω}\{\Omega^\omega_{\gamma,a}\}. The proof combines an explicit construction of positive eigenfunctions on seven patches with a lower bound under affine shear deformations. Using the homogeneity and orthogonal invariance of the Pucci operator, we identify an involutive symmetry γγ1\gamma\mapsto \gamma^{-1} in the associated volume functional and establish strict monotonicity away from the self-dual point γ=1\gamma=1. In particular, for ω>1\omega>1, any nontrivial anisotropy or shear strictly increases the normalized principal eigenvalue. This reveals a genuinely three-dimensional rigidity mechanism for a fully nonlinear spectral problem and extends to dimension three the symmetry-minimization phenomenon previously known in the planar case.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2603.24362,
  title  = {Shape Optimization for the Principal Eigenvalue of the Pucci Operator in Three Dimensions},
  author = {Mohan Mallick and Ram Baran Verma},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2603.24362},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

25 Pages, 1 figure

R2 v1 2026-07-01T11:37:23.649Z