We study regularity properties of the free boundary for the thin one-phase problem which consists of minimizing the energy functional $E(u,\Omega )={\int }_{\Omega }{\left|\nabla u\right|}^{2}dX+{\mathscr{H}}^n(\{u>0\}\cap \{x_{n+1}=0\}),\Omega \subset {ℝ}^{n+1},$ among all functions $u\ge 0$ which are fixed on $\partial \Omega$.

In compressible Neohookean elasticity one minimizes functionals which are composed by the sum of the $L^2$ norm of the deformation gradient and a nonlinear function of the determinant of the gradient. Non–interpenetrability of matter is then represented by additional invertibility conditions. An existence theory which includes a precise notion of invertibility and allows for cavitation was formulated by Müller and Spector in 1995. It applies, however, only if some $L^p$-norm of the gradient with $p\>2$ is controlled...