arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Enrico Valdinoci.
In this set of notes, we present some recent developments on the fractional Allen-Cahn equation $$ (-Δ)^s u = u-u^3,$$ with special attention to $Γ$-convergence results, energy and density estimates, convergence of level sets, Hamiltonian estimates, rigidity and symmetry results.
We provide a general approach to the classification results of stable solutions of (possibly nonlinear) elliptic problems with Robin conditions. The method is based on a geometric formula of Poincaré type, which is inspired by a classical work of Sternberg and Zumbrun and which gives an accurate description of the curvatures of the level sets of the stable solutions. {F}rom this, we show that the stable solutions of a quasilinear problem with Neumann data are necessarily constant. As a byproduct of this, we obtain an alternative proof of a celebrated result of Casten and Holland, and Matano. In addition, we will obtain as a consequence a new proof of a result recently established by Bandle, Mastrolia, Monticelli and Punzo.
We define a family of functionals, called p-oscillation functionals, that can be interpreted as discrete versions of the classical total variation functional for p=1 and of the p-Dirichlet functionals for p>1. We introduce the notion of minimizers and prove existence of solutions to the Dirichlet problem. Finally we provide a description of Class A minimizers (i.e. minimizers under compact perturbations) in dimension 1.
We study a nonlocal perimeter functional inspired by the Minkowski content, whose main feature is that it interpolates between the classical perimeter and the volume functional. This problem is related by a generalized coarea formula to a Dirichlet energy functional in which the energy density is the local oscillation of a function. These two nonlocal functionals arise in concrete applications, since the nonlocal character of the problems and the different behaviors of the energy at different scales allow the preservation of details and irregularities of the image in the process of removing white noises, thus improving the quality of the image without losing relevant features. In this paper, we provide a series of results concerning existence, rigidity and classification of minimizers, compactness results, isoperimetric inequalities, Poincaré-Wirtinger inequalities and density estimates. Furthermore, we provide the construction of planelike minimizers for this generalized perimeter under a small and periodic volume perturbation.
We consider here a nonlocal phase transition energy in a periodic medium and we construct solutions whose interfaces lie at a bounded distance from any given hyperplane. These solutions are either periodic or quasiperiodic, depending on the rational dependency of the normal direction to the reference hyperplane. Remarkably, the oscillations of the interfaces with respect to the reference hyperplane are bounded by a universal constant times the periodicity scale of the medium. This geometric property allows us to establish, in the limit, the existence of planelike nonlocal minimal surfaces in a periodic structure. The proofs rely on new optimal density and energy estimates. In particular, roughly speaking, the energy of phase transition minimizers is controlled, both from above and below, by the energy of one-dimensional transition layers.
We consider stable solutions of semilinear equations in a very general setting. The equation is set on a Polish topological space endowed with a measure and the linear operator is induced by a carré du champs (equivalently, the equation is set in a diffusion Markov triple). Under suitable curvature dimension conditions, we establish that stable solutions with integrable carré du champs are necessarily constant (weaker conditions characterize the structure of the carré du champs and carré du champ itéré). The proofs are based on a geometric Poincaré formula in this setting. From the general theorems established, several previous results are obtained as particular cases and new ones are provided as well.
This paper is concerned with qualitative properties of solutions to nonlocal reaction-diffusion equations of the form$$ \int\_{\mathbb{R}^N\setminus K} J(x-y)\,\big( u(y)-u(x) \big)\,\D y+f(u(x))=0, \quad x\in\R^N\setminus K,$$set in a perforated open set $\mathbb{R}^N\setminus K$, where $K\subset\mathbb{R}^N$ is a bounded compact "obstacle" and $f$ is a bistable nonlinearity. When $K$ is convex, we prove some Liouville-type results for solutions satisfying some asymptotic limiting conditions at infinity. We also establish a robustness result, assuming slightly relaxed conditions on $K$.
We consider a fractional elliptic equation in an unbounded set with both Dirichlet and fractional normal derivative datum prescribed. We prove that the domain and the solution are necessarily radially symmetric. The extension of the result in bounded non-convex regions is also studied, as well as the radial symmetry of the solution when the set is a priori supposed to be rotationally symmetric.
We consider bounded solutions of the nonlocal Allen-Cahn equation $$ (-Δ)^s u=u-u^3\qquad{\mbox{ in }}{\mathbb{R}}^3,$$ under the monotonicity condition $\partial_{x_3}u>0$ and in the genuinely nonlocal regime in which~$s\in\left(0,\frac12\right)$. Under the limit assumptions $$ \lim_{x_n\to-\infty} u(x',x_n)=-1\quad{\mbox{ and }}\quad \lim_{x_n\to+\infty} u(x',x_n)=1,$$ it has been recently shown that~$u$ is necessarily $1$D, i.e. it depends only on one Euclidean variable. The goal of this paper is to obtain a similar result without assuming such limit conditions. This type of results can be seen as nonlocal counterparts of the celebrated conjecture formulated by Ennio De Giorgi.
We prove a one-dimensional symmetry result for a weighted Dirichlet-to-Neumann problem arising in a model for water waves in dimension 3. More precisely we prove that minimizers and bounded monotone solutions depend on only one Euclidean variable. The analogue of this result for the 2-dimensional case (and without weights) was established in an article by De La Llave and the third author. In this paper, a crucial ingredient in the proof is given by an energy estimate for minimizers obtained via a comparison argument.
We present a geometric formula of Poincaré type, which is inspired by a classical work of Sternberg and Zumbrun, and we provide a classification result of stable solutions of linear elliptic problems with nonlinear Robin conditions on Riemannian manifolds with nonnegative Ricci curvature. The result obtained here is a refinement of a result recently established by Bandle, Mastrolia, Monticelli and Punzo.
The classical and the fractional Laplacians exhibit a number of similarities, but also some rather striking, and sometimes surprising, structural differences. A quite important example of these differences is that any function (regardless of its shape) can be locally approximated by functions with locally vanishing fractional Laplacian, as it was recently proved by Serena Dipierro, Ovidiu Savin and myself. This informal note is an exposition of this result and of some of its consequences.
We consider a general energy functional for phase coexistence models, which comprises the case of Banach norms in the gradient term plus a double-well potential. We establish density estimates for $Q$-minima. Namely, the state parameters close to both phases are proved to occupy a considerable portion of the ambient space. From this, we obtain the uniform convergence of the level sets to the limit interface in the sense of Hausdorff distance. The main novelty of these results lies in the fact that we do not assume the double-well potential to be non-degenerate in the vicinity of the minima. As far as we know, these types of density results for degenerate potentials are new even for minimizers and even in the case of semilinear equations, but our approach can comprise at the same time quasilinear equations, $Q$-minima and general energy functionals.
We prove an improvement of flatness result for nonlocal phase transitions. For a class of nonlocal equations that includes $(-Δ)^{s/2} u = u-u^3$, with~$s\in(0,1)$, we obtain a result in the same spirit of a celebrated theorem of Savin for the equation $-Δu = u-u^3$. As a consequence, we deduce that entire solutions to~$(-Δ)^{s/2} u = u-u^3$ with asymptotically flat level sets are $1$D when~$s\in(0,1)$. The results presented are completely new even for the case of the fractional Laplacian, but the robustness of the proofs allows us to treat also more general, possibly anisotropic, integro-differential operators.
We show that nonlocal minimal cones which are non-singular subgraphs outside the origin are necessarily halfspaces. The proof is based on classical ideas of~\cite{DG1} and on the computation of the linearized nonlocal mean curvature operator, which is proved to satisfy a suitable maximum principle. With this, we obtain new, and somehow simpler, proofs of the Bernstein-type results for nonlocal minimal surfaces which have been recently established in~\cite{FV}. In addition, we establish a new nonlocal Bernstein-Moser-type result which classifies Lipschitz nonlocal minimal subgraphs outside a ball.
We provide an integral estimate for a non-divergence (non-variational) form second order elliptic equation $a_{ij}u_{ij}=u^p$, $u\ge 0$, $p\in[0, 1)$, with bounded discontinuous coefficients $a_{ij}$ having small BMO norm. We consider the simplest discontinuity of the form~$x\otimes x|x|^{-2}$ at the origin. As an application we show that the free boundary corresponding to the obstacle problem (i.e. when~$p=0$) cannot be smooth at the points of discontinuity of~$a_{ij}(x)$. To implement our construction, an integral estimate and a scale invariance will provide the homogeneity of the blow-up sequences, which then can be classified using ODE arguments.
We provide an existence result for stationary fractional mean field game systems, with fractional exponent greater than 1/2. In the case in which the coupling is a nonlocal regularizing potential, we obtain existence of solutions under general assumptions on the Hamiltonian. In the case of local coupling, we restrict to the subcritical regime, that is the case in which the diffusion part of the operator dominates the Hamiltonian term. We consider both the case of local bounded coupling and of local unbounded coupling with power-type growth. In this second regime, we impose some conditions on the growth of the coupling and on the growth of the Hamiltonian with respect to the gradient term.
We show that any function can be locally approximated by solutions of prescribed linear equations of nonlocal type. In particular, we show that every function is locally $s$-caloric, up to a small error. The case of non-elliptic and non-parabolic operators is taken into account as well.