Limiting Absorption Principle for the Helmholtz Equation with Sign-Changing Coefficients in Multilayer Spheres

Abstract

This paper investigates a multilayered Helmholtz model in ${\mathbb{R}}^d$ ($d\ge 2$) characterized by concentric layers of materials with alternating positive and negative refractive indices. To overcome the loss of coercivity induced by the sign-changing material parameters, we construct a bespoke $\mathbb{T}$-coercivity operator to restore the coercive structure of the problem. Furthermore, to address the inherent lack of compactness on unbounded domains, we integrate a complex-wavenumber Dirichlet-to-Neumann (DtN) operator into this framework. By combining this variational synthesis with sharp \textit{a priori} estimates, we rigorously establish the limiting absorption principle and prove the well-posedness of the corresponding transmission problem in appropriate function spaces. Crucially, we quantify the dependence of uniqueness on the domain geometry by explicitly analyzing the optimal trace constant, thereby providing a rigorous mathematical criterion for the design of multi-layer metamaterials.

27 pages