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On the Numerical Solution of Nonlinear Eigenvalue Problems for the Monge-Ampère Operator

In this article, we report the results we obtained when investigating the numerical solution of some nonlinear eigenvalue problems for the Monge-Ampère operator $v\rightarrow \det \mathbf{D}^2 v$. The methodology we employ relies on the following ingredients: (i) A divergence formulation of the eigenvalue problems under consideration. (ii) The time discretization by operator-splitting of an initial value problem (a kind of gradient flow) associated with each eigenvalue problem. (iii) A finite element approximation relying on spaces of continuous piecewise affine functions. To validate the above methodology, we applied it to the solution of problems with known exact solutions: The results we obtained suggest convergence to the exact solution when the space discretization step $h\rightarrow 0$. We considered also test problems with no known exact solutions.