The maximization of the p-Laplacian energy for a two-phase material

Abstract: We consider the optimal arrangement of two diffusion materials in a bounded open set $\Omega\subset \mathbb{R}^N$ in order to maximize the energy. The diffusion problem is modeled by the $p$-Laplacian operator. It is well known that this type of problems has no solution in general and then that it is necessary to work with a relaxed formulation. In the present paper we obtain such relaxed formulation using the homogenization theory, i.e. we replace both materials by microscopic mixtures of them. Then we get some uniqueness results and a system of optimality conditions. As a consequence we prove some regularity properties for the optimal solutions of the relaxed problem. Namely, we show that the flux is in the Sobolev space $H^1(\Omega)^N$ and that the optimal proportion of the materials is derivable in the orthogonal direction to the flux. This will imply that the unrelaxed problem has no solution in general. Our results extend those obtained by the first author for the Laplace operator.