Hyperbolic polynomials and the Dirichlet problem

F. Reese Harvey, H. Blaine Lawson Jr

Published 2009-12-29, updated 2010-03-19Version 2

This paper presents a simple, self-contained account of Garding's theory of hyperbolic polynomials, including a recent convexity result of Bauschke-Guler-Lewis-Sendov and an inequality of Gurvits. This account also contains new results, such as the existence of a real analytic arrangement of the eigenvalue functions. In a second, independent part of the paper, the relationship of Garding's theory to the authors' recent work (arXiv:0710.3991) on the Dirichlet problem for fully nonlinear partial differential equations is investigated. Let p be a homogeneous polynomial of degree m on S^2(R^n) which is hyperbolic with respect to the all positive directions A \geq 0. Then p has an associated eigenvalue map lambda:S^2(R^n) \to R^m, defined modulo the permutation group acting on R^m. Consequently, each closed symmetric set E of R^m induces a second-order p.d.e. by requiring, for a C^2-function u in n-variables, that (D^2 u)(x) lie in the boundary of E for all x. Assume that E + (R_+)^m is contained in E. A main result is that for smooth domains in R^n whose boundary is suitably (p,E)-pseudo-convex, the Dirichlet problem has a unique continuous solution for all continuous boundary data. This applies to a vast collection of examples the most basic of which are the m distinct branches of the equation p(D^2 u) =0. In the authors' recent extension of results from euclidean domains to domains in riemannian manifolds (arXiv:0907.1981), a new global ingredient, called a monotonicity subequation, was introduced. It is shown in this paper that for every polynomial $p$ as above, the associated Garding cone is a monotonicity cone for all branches of the the equation p(Hess u) = 0 where Hess u denotes the riemannian Hessian of u.