Geometry of the Minimal Level Set of the Effective Hamiltonian in Two Dimensions

Fuente: arXiv
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Autor principal: Yu, Yifeng
Formato: Preprint
Publicado: 2026
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author Yu, Yifeng
author_facet Yu, Yifeng
contents In this paper, we characterize the geometric structure of the boundary of the minimal level set $F_0$ of the effective Hamiltonian $\overline{H}$ associated with the mechanical Hamiltonian \[ H(p,x)=\frac12|p|^2+V(x) \] in dimension $n=2$, where $V$ on $\mathbb{T}^2=\mathbb{R}^2/\mathbb{Z}^2$ has a unique maximum and Hessian at this maximizer has two distinct negative eigenvalues. For $n=2$, the geometry of the level sets of $\overline{H}$ strictly above the minimum has been largely understood since the 1990s, mainly through the equivalent formulation in terms of stable norms; we fill the remaining gap at the minimal level by providing an explicit, verifiable characterization of $\partial F_0$. In particular, we show that $p \in \partial F_0$ does not lie on any flat edge if and only if $\partial F_0$ is differentiable at $p$ and its outer normal direction is irrational, except possibly at one exceptional pair of points $\pm p_0$. Consequently, flat edges are dense along $\partial F_0$. We also construct an example demonstrating that this exceptional pair can occur, showing the result is sharp.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2602_23470
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Geometry of the Minimal Level Set of the Effective Hamiltonian in Two Dimensions
Yu, Yifeng
Analysis of PDEs
35F21, 35B27, 49L25, 37J50
In this paper, we characterize the geometric structure of the boundary of the minimal level set $F_0$ of the effective Hamiltonian $\overline{H}$ associated with the mechanical Hamiltonian \[ H(p,x)=\frac12|p|^2+V(x) \] in dimension $n=2$, where $V$ on $\mathbb{T}^2=\mathbb{R}^2/\mathbb{Z}^2$ has a unique maximum and Hessian at this maximizer has two distinct negative eigenvalues. For $n=2$, the geometry of the level sets of $\overline{H}$ strictly above the minimum has been largely understood since the 1990s, mainly through the equivalent formulation in terms of stable norms; we fill the remaining gap at the minimal level by providing an explicit, verifiable characterization of $\partial F_0$. In particular, we show that $p \in \partial F_0$ does not lie on any flat edge if and only if $\partial F_0$ is differentiable at $p$ and its outer normal direction is irrational, except possibly at one exceptional pair of points $\pm p_0$. Consequently, flat edges are dense along $\partial F_0$. We also construct an example demonstrating that this exceptional pair can occur, showing the result is sharp.
title Geometry of the Minimal Level Set of the Effective Hamiltonian in Two Dimensions
topic Analysis of PDEs
35F21, 35B27, 49L25, 37J50
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.23470