Exact solutions for the insulated and perfect conductivity problems with concentric balls

Abstract

The insulated and perfect conductivity problems arising from high-contrast composite materials are considered in all dimensions. The solution and its gradient, respectively, represent the electric potential and field. The novelty of this paper lies in finding exact solutions for the insulated and perfect conductivity problems with concentric balls. Our results show that there appears no electric field concentration for the insulated conductivity problem, while the electric field for the perfect conductivity problem exhibits sharp singularity with respect to the small distance between interfacial boundaries of the interior and exterior balls. This discrepancy reveals that concentric balls is the optimal structure of insulated composites, but not for superconducting composites.