Complete classification of global solutions to the obstacle problem

Abstract

The characterization of global solutions to the obstacle problems in $\mathbb{R}^N$, or equivalently of null quadrature domains, has been studied for more than 90 years. In this paper, we give a conclusive answer to this problem by proving the following long-standing conjecture: The coincidence set of a global solution to the obstacle problem is either a half-space, an ellipsoid, a paraboloid, or a cylinder with an ellipsoid or a paraboloid as base.