Minimizers of Dirichlet functionals on the n-torus and the Weak KAM Theory

Gershon Wolansky

Published 2007-02-25, updated 2007-11-17Version 2

Given a probability measure $\mu$ on the $n-$torus $T^n$ and a rotation vector $k\in R^n$, we ask wether there exists a minimizer to the integral $\int_{T^n} |\grad\phi+k|^2 d\mu$. This problem leads, naturally, to a class of elliptic PDE and to an optimal transportation (Monge-Kantorovich) class of problems on the torus. It is also related to higher dimensional Aubry-Mather theory, dealing with invariant sets of periodic Lagrangians, and is known as the "Weak-KAM theory".