A miscellanea of qualitative and symmetry properties of the solutions to the two-phase Serrin's problem

Abstract: This paper investigates the solutions to the two-phase Serrin's problem, an overdetermined boundary value problem motivated by shape optimization. Specifically, we study the torsional rigidity of composite beams, where two distinct materials interact, and examine the properties of the optimal configurations (critical shapes) under volume constraints. We first show that such a shape optimization problem admits no local minimizers. Then, using the method of moving planes, we show that the solutions exhibit no extended or narrow branches ("tentacles") away from the core. We then show that the outer boundary of a solution cannot exhibit flat parts and that the only configuration whose outer boundary contains a portion of a sphere is the one given by concentric balls. Finally, we establish that concentric balls are the only admissible configurations that solve the two-phase Serrin's problem for two distinct sets of conductivity values.