Free energy minimizers with radial densities: classification and quantitative stability

Abstract

We study the isoperimetric problem with a potential energy $g$ in $\mathbb{R}^n$ weighted by a radial density $f$ and analyze the geometric properties of minimizers. Notably, we construct two counterexamples demonstrating that, in contrast to the classical isoperimetric case $g = 0$, the condition $\ln(f)'' + g' \geq 0$ does not generally guarantee the global optimality of centered spheres. However, we demonstrate that centered spheres are globally optimal when both $f$ and $g$ are monotone. Additionally, we strengthen this result by deriving a sharp quantitative stability inequality.