Existence and uniqueness of the dual solution for obstacle problems in the space BV

Abstract

We consider the variational problem of minimizing the multiple integral $\int_Ωf(\nabla u) \, dx$ with a convex density $f$ being of linear growth among functions $u$: $Ω\to \mathbb{R}$ satisfying the Dirichlet boundary condition $u = u_0$ on $\partialΩ$ and for which $u \ge Ψ$ holds throughout the domain $Ω$. We prove that the dual problem has a unique solution. This result is extended to the case of interior obstacle problems, where the validity of $u \ge Ψ$ is only required on a subset $E$ of $Ω$. Moreover, we discuss the vectorial setting, i.e. the case of functions $u$: $Ω\to \mathbb{R}^N$, $N > 1$, combined with the additional condition $u(Ω) \subset A$ for a closed convex set $A \subset \mathbb{R}^N$, again showing the existence and the uniqueness of the associated dual solution.