Symmetry-breaking and local stability of a two-phase eigenvalue problem in optimal insulation

Abstract

We consider the first eigenvalue, $λ_β(Ω,A)$, of a two-phase eigenvalue problem for the Laplacian with Robin boundary conditions, where the two phases are characterised by different ellipticity constants. We characterise the conditions under which a ball $B_R$ is a local minimum under a volume constraint for the minimisation problem $A\mapstoλ_β(B_r,A)$, in terms of the principal Neumann eigenvalue of the fixed inner ball $B_r$.