Search results for "Elliptic boundary deformation problems"

Morse-Smale index theorems for elliptic boundary deformation problems.

2012

AbstractMorse-type index theorems for self-adjoint elliptic second order boundary value problems arise as the second variation of an energy functional corresponding to some variational problem. The celebrated Morse index theorem establishes a precise relation between the Morse index of a geodesic (as critical point of the geodesic action functional) and the number of conjugate points along the curve. Generalization of this theorem to linear elliptic boundary value problems appeared since seventies. (See, for instance, Smale (1965) [12], Uhlenbeck (1973) [15] and Simons (1968) [11] among others.) The aim of this paper is to prove a Morse–Smale index theorem for a second order self-adjoint el…