Classification of global solutions to the obstacle problem in the plane

Abstract

Global solutions to the obstacle problem were first completely classified in two dimensions by Sakai using complex analysis techniques. Although the complex analysis approach produced a very succinct proof in two dimensions, it left the higher dimensional cases, and even closely related problems in two dimensions, unresolved. A complete classification in dimensions $n\ge 3$ was recently given by Eberle, Figalli and Weiss, forty years after Sakai published his proof. In this paper we give a proof of Sakai's classification result for unbounded coincidence sets in the spirit of the recent proof by Eberle, Figalli and Weiss. Our approach, in particular, avoids the need for complex analysis techniques and offers new perspectives on two-dimensional problems that complex analysis cannot address.