A `liquid-solid' phase transition in a simple model for swarming, based on the `no flat-spots' theorem for subharmonic functions

Abstract

We consider a non-local shape optimization problem, which is motivated by a simple model for swarming and other self-assembly/aggregation models, and prove the existence of different phases. A technical key ingredient, which we establish, is that a strictly subharmonic function cannot be constant on a set of positive measure.