Convergence analysis of two finite element methods for the modified Maxwell's Steklov eigenvalue problem

The modified Maxwell's Steklov eigenvalue problem is a new problem arising from the study of inverse electromagnetic scattering problems. In this paper, we investigate two finite element methods for this problem and perform the convergence analysis. Moreover, the monotonic convergence of the discrete eigenvalues computed by one of the methods is analyzed.

Where to place a spherical obstacle so as to maximize the first nonzero Steklov eigenvalue

We prove that among all doubly connected domains of R n of the form B 1 \ B 2 , where B 1 and B 2 are open balls of fixed radii such that B 2 ⊂ B 1 , the first non-trivial Steklov eigenvalue achieves its maximal value uniquely when the balls are concentric. Furthermore, we show that the ideas of our proof also apply to a mixed boundary conditions eigenvalue problem found in literature.

Target signatures for thin surfaces

We investigate an inverse scattering problem for a thin inhomogeneous scatterer in ${\mathbb R}^m$, $m=2,3$, which we model as a $m-1$ dimensional open surface. The scatterer is referred to as a screen. The goal is to design target signatures that are computable from scattering data in order to detect changes in the material properties of the screen. This target signature is characterized by a mixed Steklov eigenvalue problem for a domain whose boundary contains the screen. We show that the corresponding eigenvalues can be determined from appropriately modified scattering data by using the generalized linear sampling method. A weaker justification is provided for the classical linear sampling method. Numerical experiments are presented to support our theoretical results.

Local defect-correction method based on multilevel discretization for Steklov eigenvalue problem

In this paper, we propose a local defect-correction method for solving the Steklov eigenvalue problem arising from the scalar second order positive definite partial differential equations based on the multilevel discretization. The objective is to avoid solving large-scale equations especially the large-scale Steklov eigenvalue problem whose computational cost increases exponentially. The proposed algorithm transforms the Steklov eigenvalue problem into a series of linear boundary value problems, which are defined in a multigrid space sequence, and a series of small-scale Steklov eigenvalue problems in a coarse correction space. Furthermore, we use the local defect-correction technique to divide the large-scale boundary value problems into small-scale subproblems. Through our proposed algorithm, we avoid solving large-scale Steklov eigenvalue problems. As a result, our proposed algorithm demonstrates significantly improved the solving efficiency. Additionally, we conduct numerical experiments and a rigorous theoretical analysis to verify the effectiveness of our proposed approach.

Continuity of eigenvalues and shape optimisation for Laplace and Steklov problems

We associate a sequence of variational eigenvalues to any Radon measure on a compact Riemannian manifold. For particular choices of measures, we recover the Laplace, Steklov and other classical eigenvalue problems. In the first part of the paper we study the properties of variational eigenvalues and establish a general continuity result, which shows for a sequence of measures converging in the dual of an appropriate Sobolev space, that the associated eigenvalues converge as well. The second part of the paper is devoted to various applications to shape optimization. The main theme is studying sharp isoperimetric inequalities for Steklov eigenvalues without any assumption on the number of connected components of the boundary. In particular, we solve the isoperimetric problem for each Steklov eigenvalue of planar domains: the best upper bound for the k-th perimeter-normalized Steklov eigenvalue is $$8\pi k$$ 8 π k , which is the best upper bound for the $$k^{\text {th}}$$ k th area-normalised eigenvalue of the Laplacian on the sphere. The proof involves realizing a weighted Neumann problem as a limit of Steklov problems on perforated domains. For $$k=1$$ k = 1 , the number of connected boundary components of a maximizing sequence must tend to infinity, and we provide a quantitative lower bound on the number of connected components. A surprising consequence of our analysis is that any maximizing sequence of planar domains with fixed perimeter must collapse to a point.

A type of full multigrid method for non-selfadjoint Steklov eigenvalue problems in inverse scattering

In this paper, a type of full multigrid method is proposed to solve non-selfadjoint Steklov eigenvalue problems. Multigrid iterations for corresponding selfadjoint and positive definite boundary value problems generate proper iterate solutions that are subsequently added to the coarsest finite element space in order to improve approximate eigenpairs on the current mesh. Based on this full multigrid, we propose a new type of adaptive finite element method for non-selfadjoint Steklov eigenvalue problems. We prove that the computational work of these new schemes are almost optimal, the same as solving the corresponding positive definite selfadjoint boundary value problems. In this case, these type of iteration schemes certainly improve the overfull efficiency of solving the non-selfadjoint Steklov eigenvalue problem. Some numerical examples are provided to validate the theoretical results and the efficiency of this proposed scheme.

Existence results for double phase problems depending on Robin and Steklov eigenvalues for the p-Laplacian

In this paper we study double phase problems with nonlinear boundary condition and gradient dependence. Under quite general assumptions we prove existence results for such problems where the perturbations satisfy a suitable behavior in the origin and at infinity. Our proofs make use of variational tools, truncation techniques and comparison methods. The obtained solutions depend on the first eigenvalues of the Robin and Steklov eigenvalue problems for the p-Laplacian.

Large Steklov eigenvalues via homogenisation on manifolds

Using methods in the spirit of deterministic homogenisation theory we obtain convergence of the Steklov eigenvalues of a sequence of domains in a Riemannian manifold to weighted Laplace eigenvalues of that manifold. The domains are obtained by removing small geodesic balls that are asymptotically densely uniformly distributed as their radius tends to zero. We use this relationship to construct manifolds that have large Steklov eigenvalues. In dimension two, and with constant weight equal to 1, we prove that Kokarev’s upper bound of $$8\pi $$ 8 π for the first nonzero normalised Steklov eigenvalue on orientable surfaces of genus 0 is saturated. For other topological types and eigenvalue indices, we also obtain lower bounds on the best upper bound for the eigenvalue in terms of Laplace maximisers. For the first two eigenvalues, these lower bounds become equalities. A surprising consequence is the existence of free boundary minimal surfaces immersed in the unit ball by first Steklov eigenfunctions and with area strictly larger than $$2\pi $$ 2 π . This was previously thought to be impossible. We provide numerical evidence that some of the already known examples of free boundary minimal surfaces have these properties and also exhibit simulations of new free boundary minimal surfaces of genus zero in the unit ball with even larger area. We prove that the first nonzero Steklov eigenvalue of all these examples is equal to 1, as a consequence of their symmetries and topology, so that they are consistent with a general conjecture by Fraser and Li. In dimension three and larger, we prove that the isoperimetric inequality of Colbois–El Soufi–Girouard is sharp and implies an upper bound for weighted Laplace eigenvalues. We also show that in any manifold with a fixed metric, one can construct by varying the weight a domain with connected boundary whose first nonzero normalised Steklov eigenvalue is arbitrarily large.