A nonlocal isoperimetric problem with density perimeter

Abstract

We consider the minimization of an energy functional given by the sum of a density perimeter and a nonlocal interaction of Riesz type with exponent $α$, under volume constraint, where the strength of the nonlocal interaction is controlled by a parameter $γ$. We show that for a wide class of density functions the energy admits a minimizer for any value of $γ$. Moreover these minimizers are bounded. For monomial densities of the form $|x|^p$ we prove that when $γ$ is sufficiently small the unique minimizer is given by the ball of fixed volume. In contrast with the constant density case, here the $γ\to 0$ limit corresponds, under a suitable rescaling, to a small mass $m=|Ω|\to 0$ limit when $p d-α+1$.