Domain variations of the first eigenvalue via a strict Faber-Krahn type inequality

Abstract

For $d\geq 2$ and $\frac{2d+2}{d+2} < p < \infty $, we prove a strict Faber-Krahn type inequality under polarizations for the first eigenvalue $\lambda _1(\Omega )$ of the $p$-Laplace operator on a bounded Lipschitz domain $\Omega \subset \mathbb{R}^d$ with mixed boundary conditions. We apply this inequality to the obstacle problems on domains of the form $\Omega \setminus \mathscr{O}$, where $\mathscr{O}\subset \subset \Omega $ is an obstacle. Under some geometric assumptions on $\Omega $ and $\mathscr{O}$, we prove the strict monotonicity of $\lambda _1 (\Omega \setminus \mathscr{O})$ with respect to certain translations and rotations of $\mathscr{O}$ in $\Omega$.