Stable solutions to the fractional Allen-Cahn equation in the nonlocal perimeter regime

Abstract

We study stable solutions to the fractional Allen-Cahn equation \linebreak $(-\Delta)^{s/2} u = u-u^3$, $|u|<1$ in $\mathbb{R}^n$. For every $s\in (0,1)$ and dimension $n\geq 2$, we establish sharp energy estimates, density estimates, and the convergence of blow-downs to stable nonlocal $s$-minimal cones. As a consequence, we obtain a new classification result: if for some pair $(n,s)$, with $n\ge 3$, hyperplanes are the only stable nonlocal $s$-minimal cones in $\mathbb{R}^n\setminus\{0\}$, then every stable solution to the fractional Allen-Cahn equation in $\mathbb{R}^n$ is 1D, namely, its level sets are parallel hyperplanes. Combining this result with the classification of stable $s$-minimal cones in $\mathbb{R}^3\setminus\{0\}$ for $s\sim 1$ obtained by the authors in a recent paper, we give positive answers to the "stability conjecture" in $\mathbb{R}^3$ and to the "De Giorgi conjecture" in $\mathbb{R}^4$ for the fractional Allen-Cahn equation when the order $s\in (0,1)$ of the operator is sufficiently close to $1$.