Exceptional domains in higher dimensions

Abstract

We prove the existence of nontrivial unbounded exceptional domains in the Euclidean space $\R^N$, $N\geq4$. These domains arise as perturbations of complements of straight cylinders in $\R^N$, and by definition they support a positive harmonic function with vanishing Dirichlet boundary values and constant Neumann boundary values, the so-called roof function. While the domains have a similar shape as those constructed in the recent work \cite{Fall-MinlendI-Weth3} for the case $N=3$, there is a striking constrast with regard to the shape of corresponding roof functions which are bounded for $N \ge 4$. Moreover, while the analysis in \cite{Fall-MinlendI-Weth3} does not extend to higher dimensions, the approach of the present paper depends heavily on the assumption $N \ge 4$.