Smoothness and stability in the Alt-Phillips problem

Abstract: We study the one-phase Alt-Phillips free boundary problem, focusing on the case of negative exponents $\gamma \in (-2,0)$. The goal of this paper is twofold. On the one hand, we prove smoothness of $C^{1,\alpha}$-regular free boundaries by reducing the problem to a class of degenerate quasilinear PDEs, for which we establish Schauder estimates. Such method provide a unified proof of the smoothness for general exponents. On the other hand, by exploiting the higher regularity of solutions, we derive a new stability condition for the Alt-Phillips problem in the negative exponent regime, ruling out the existence of nontrivial axially symmetric stable cones in low dimensions. Finally, we provide a variational criterion for the stability of cones in the Alt-Phillips problem, which recovers the one for minimal surfaces in the singular limit as $\gamma \to -2$.