Beniamin BOGOSEL

The main result of the paper shows that the regular $n$-gon is a local minimizer for the first Dirichlet-Laplace eigenvalue among $n$-gons having fixed area for $n \in \{5,6\}$. The eigenvalue is seen as a function of the coordinates of the vertices in $\R^{2n}$. Relying on fine regularity results of the first eigenfunction in a convex polygon, an explicit a priori estimate is given for the eigenvalues of the Hessian matrix associated to the discrete problem, whose coefficients involve the solutions of some Poisson equations with singular right hand sides. The a priori estimates, in conjunction with certified finite element approximations of these singular PDEs imply the local minimality for $n \in \{5,6\}$. All computations, including the finite element computations, are realized using interval arithmetic.

The volume of a Meissner polyhedron is computed in terms of the lengths of its dual edges. This allows to reformulate the Meissner conjecture regarding constant width bodies with minimal volume as a series of explicit finite dimensional problems. A direct consequence is the minimality of the volume of Meissner tetrahedras among Meissner pyramids.

The first main result presented in the paper shows that the perimeters of inner parallel sets of planar shapes having a given constant width are minimal for the Reuleaux triangles. This implies that the areas of inner parallel sets and, consequently, the inverse of the Cheeger constant are also minimal for the Reuleaux triangles. Proofs use elementary geometry arguments and are based on direct comparisons between general constant width shapes and the Reuleaux triangle.