analysis / Spectral geometry

Schiffer's Conjecture and the Pompeiu Problem

If a smooth bounded domain in $\mathbb{R}^n$ admits a Neumann eigenfunction of the Laplacian that is constant on the boundary, must the domain be a ball? Pompeiu posed an equivalent integral-equation form in 1929; Schiffer's 1957 reformulation via Neumann eigenfunctions is the version on Yau's 1982 list (Problem 80), and Williams proved the two formulations logically equivalent for simply connected domains in 1976. Cao-Labora and de Dios Pont construct infinitely many planar domains with large $N$-fold symmetry that are not balls and admit such an eigenfunction, disproving Schiffer's conjecture; applying Williams' classical reduction to the same domains (their Corollary 1.2) disproves Pompeiu's problem as well.

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analysisAug 5, 2026Significance 53/100Registry: lean verified

Schiffer's Conjecture and the Pompeiu Problem

Prior state unknowndisproved

Also refutes the 1929 Pompeiu problem: Corollary 1.2 applies Williams' classical 1976 equivalence to the same constructed domains, so this is one construction settling both, not two separate results.

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If a smooth bounded domain in $\mathbb{R}^n$ admits a Neumann eigenfunction of the Laplacian that is constant on the boundary, must the domain be a ball? Pompeiu posed an equivalent integral-equation form in 1929; Schiffer's 1957 reformulation via Neumann eigenfunctions is the version on Yau's 1982 list (Problem 80), and Williams proved the two formulations logically equivalent for simply connected domains in 1976. Cao-Labora and de Dios Pont construct infinitely many planar domains with large $N$-fold symmetry that are not balls and admit such an eigenfunction, disproving Schiffer's conjecture; applying Williams' classical reduction to the same domains (their Corollary 1.2) disproves Pompeiu's problem as well.

Also refutes the 1929 Pompeiu problem: Corollary 1.2 applies Williams' classical 1976 equivalence to the same constructed domains, so this is one construction settling both, not two separate results.

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