Optimal Shape of a Domain which minimizes the first Buckling Eigenvalue

Abstract

In this paper we prove the existence of an optimal domain which minimizes the buckling load of a clamped plate among all bounded domains with given measure. Instead of treating this variational problem with a volume constraint, we introduce a problem without any constraints, but with a penalty term. We concentrate on the minimizing function and prove that it has Lipschitz continuous first derivatives. Furthermore, we show that the penalized problem and the original problem can be treated as equivalent. Finally, we establish some qualitative properties of the free boundary.