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John M. Ball

Publications and source records attributed to John M. Ball.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
arXiv2026

Compatibility of Martensitic Microstructures in Polycrystals

The paper studies martensitic microstructures in polycrystals, focussing on their compatibility across grain boundaries. After a reduction to the case of a planar grain boundary, the case when the grain boundary separates two constant gradients of zero energy is considered. It is shown that for cubic-to tetragonal transformations such a configuration can occur when the relative grain rotation is not in the cubic group. Then the case when the grain boundary separates two simple laminates of zero energy is considered, it being shown using a computer-assisted symbolic calculation that in the cubic-to-tetragonal case compatibility is only possible for a closed set of measure zero in the manifold of grain boundary normals and relative grain rotations, and that a similar slightly weaker result holds for cubic-to-orthorhombic transformations. The results suggest why higher-order laminates are often observed for such transformations. The Taylor set of deformation gradients is defined and studied, this set having the property that any deformation whose gradient belongs to it corresponds to a zero-energy microstructure for the polycrystal independent of grain geometry and grain rotations. New upper bounds for the Taylor set are proved for cubic-to-tetragonal and cubic-to-orthorhombic transformations, generalizing those of Bhattacharya and Kohn using the geometrically linearized theory. We give a simple proof of a related result of Peigney characterizing the positive diagonal matrices in the quasiconvex hull of the energy wells for cubic-to-tetragonal transformations.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗
arXiv2025

A nonlinear elasticity model in computer vision

The purpose of this paper is to analyze a nonlinear elasticity model introduced by the authors for comparing two images, regarded as bounded open subsets of $\R^n$ together with associated vector-valued intensity maps. Optimal transformations between the images are sought as minimisers of an integral functional among orientation-preserving homeomorphisms. The existence of minimisers is proved under natural coercivity and polyconvexity conditions, assuming only that the intensity functions are bounded measurable. Variants of the existence theorem are also proved, first under the constraint that finite sets of landmark points in the two images are mapped one to the other, and second when one image is to be compared to an unknown part of another. The question is studied as to whether for images related by an affine mapping the unique minimiser is given by that affine mapping. For a natural class of functional integrands an example is given guaranteeing that this property holds for pairs of images in which the second is a scaling of the first by a constant factor. However for the property to hold for arbitrary pairs of affinely related images it is shown that the integrand has to depend on the gradient of the transformation as a convex function of its determinant alone. This suggests a new model in which the integrand depends also on second derivatives of the transformation, and an example is given for which both existence of minimisers is assured and the above property holds for all pairs of affinely related images.

math.AP↗
arXiv2024

Extension of convex functions from a hyperplane to a half-space

It is shown that a possibly infinite-valued proper lower semicontinuous convex function on ${\mathbb R}^n$ has an extension to a convex function on the half-space ${\mathbb R}^n\times[0,\infty)$ which is finite and smooth on the open half-space ${\mathbb R}^n\times(0,\infty)$. The result is applied to nonlinear elasticity, where it clarifies how the condition of polyconvexity of the free-energy density $ψ(Dy)$ is best expressed when $ψ(A)\to\infty$ as $\det A\to 0+$.

math.AP↗
arXiv2023

Remarks on the linear wave equation

We make some remarks on the linear wave equation concerning the existence and uniqueness of weak solutions, satisfaction of the energy equation, growth properties of solutions, the passage from bounded to unbounded domains, and reconciliation of different representations of solutions.

math.AP↗
arXiv2023

Slip and twinning in Bravais lattices

A unified treatment of slip and twinning in Bravais lattices is given, focussing on the case of cubic symmetry, and using the Ericksen energy well formulation, so that interfaces correspond to rank-one connections between the infinitely many crystallographically equivalent energy wells. Twins are defined to be such rank-one connections involving a nontrivial reflection of the lattice across some plane. The slips and twins minimizing shear magnitude for cubic lattices are rigorously calculated, and the conjugates of these and other slips analyzed. It is observed that all rank-one connections between the energy wells for the dual of a Bravais lattice can be obtained explicitly from those for the original lattice, so that in particular the rank-one connections for fcc can be obtained explicitly from those for bcc.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗
arXiv2023

Image comparison and scaling via nonlinear elasticity

A nonlinear elasticity model for comparing images is formulated and analyzed, in which optimal transformations between images are sought as minimizers of an integral functional. The existence of minimizers in a suitable class of homeomorphisms between image domains is established under natural hypotheses. We investigate whether for linearly related images the minimization algorithm delivers the linear transformation as the unique minimizer.

math.AP↗
arXiv2023

A free discontinuity model for smectic thin films

We attempt to describe surface defects in smectic A thin films by formulating a free discontinuity problem - that is, a variational problem in which the order parameter is allowed to have jump discontinuities on some (unknown) set. The free energy functional contains an interfacial energy which penalizes dislocations of the smectic layers at the jump. We discuss mathematical issues related to the existence of minimizers and provide examples of minimizers in some simplified settings.

math.AP↗
arXiv2020

Axisymmetry of critical points for the Onsager functional

A simple proof is given of the classical result due to Fatkullin and Slastikov (2005), Liu, Zhang and Zhang (2005) that critical points for the Onsager functional with the Maier-Saupe molecular interaction are axisymmetric, including the case of stable critical points with an additional dipole-dipole interaction (Zhou et al 2007). The proof avoids spherical polar coordinates, instead using an integral identity on the sphere $S^2$. For general interactions with absolutely continuous kernels the smoothness of all critical points is established, generalizing a result of Vollmer (2016) for the Onsager interaction. It is also shown that non-axisymmetric critical points exist for a wide variety of interactions including that of Onsager.

cond-mat.soft↗
arXiv2017

Liquid crystals and their defects

These lecture notes discuss classical models of liquid crystals, and the different ways in which defects are described according to the different models.

cond-mat.soft↗
arXiv2017

Interaction of martensitic microstructures in adjacent grains

It is often observed that martensitic microstructures in adjacent polycrystal grains are related. For example, micrographs of Arlt exhibit propagation of layered structures across grain boundaries in the cubic-to-tetragonal phase transformation in $\rm BaTiO_3$. Such observations are related to requirements of compatibility of the deformation at the grain boundary. Using a generalization of the Hadamard jump condition, this is explored in the nonlinear elasticity model of martensitic transformations for the case of a bicrystal with suitably oriented columnar geometry, in which the microstructure in both grains is assumed to involve just two martensitic variants, with a planar or non-planar interface between the grains.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗
arXiv2017

Partial regularity and smooth topology-preserving approximations of rough domains

For a bounded domain $Ω\subset\mathbb{R}^m, m\geq 2,$ of class $C^0$, the properties are studied of fields of `good directions', that is the directions with respect to which $\partialΩ$ can be locally represented as the graph of a continuous function. For any such domain there is a canonical smooth field of good directions defined in a suitable neighbourhood of $\partialΩ$, in terms of which a corresponding flow can be defined. Using this flow it is shown that $Ω$ can be approximated from the inside and the outside by diffeomorphic domains of class $C^\infty$. Whether or not the image of a general continuous field of good directions (pseudonormals) defined on $\partialΩ$ is the whole of $\mathbb{S}^{m-1}$ is shown to depend on the topology of $Ω$. These considerations are used to prove that if $m=2,3$, or if $Ω$ has nonzero Euler characteristic, there is a point $P\in\partialΩ$ in the neighbourhood of which $\partialΩ$ is Lipschitz. The results provide new information even for more regular domains, with Lipschitz or smooth boundaries.

math.CA↗
arXiv2015

Geometry of polycrystals and microstructure

We investigate the geometry of polycrystals, showing that for polycrystals formed of convex grains the interior grains are polyhedral, while for polycrystals with general grain geometry the set of triple points is small. Then we investigate possible martensitic morphologies resulting from intergrain contact. For cubic-to-tetragonal transformations we show that homogeneous zero-energy microstructures matching a pure dilatation on a grain boundary necessarily involve more than four deformation gradients. We discuss the relevance of this result for observations of microstructures involving second and third-order laminates in various materials. Finally we consider the more specialized situation of bicrystals formed from materials having two martensitic energy wells (such as for orthorhombic to monoclinic transformations), but without any restrictions on the possible microstructure, showing how a generalization of the Hadamard jump condition can be applied at the intergrain boundary to show that a pure phase in either grain is impossible at minimum energy.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗
arXiv2014

Quasistatic nonlinear viscoelasticity and gradient flows

We consider the equation of motion for one-dimensional nonlinear viscoelasticity of strain-rate type under the assumption that the stored-energy function is $λ$-convex, which allows for solid phase transformations. We formulate this problem as a gradient flow, leading to existence and uniqueness of solutions. By approximating general initial data by those in which the deformation gradient takes only finitely many values, we show that under suitable hypotheses on the stored-energy function the deformation gradient is instantaneously bounded and bounded away from zero. Finally, we discuss the open problem of showing that every solution converges to an equilibrium state as time $t \to \infty$ and prove convergence to equilibrium under a nondegeneracy condition. We show that this condition is satisfied in particular for any real analytic cubic-like stress-strain function.

math.AP↗
arXiv2013

Entropy and Convexity for Nonlinear Partial Differential Equations: Introduction

Partial differential equations are ubiquitous in almost all applications of mathematics, where they provide a natural mathematical description of many phenomena involving change in physical, chemical, biological, and social processes. The concept of entropy originated in thermodynamics and statistical physics during the 19th century to describe the heat exchanges that occur in the thermal processes in a thermodynamic system, while the original notion of convexity is for sets and functions in mathematics. Since then, entropy and convexity have become two of the most important concepts in mathematics. In particular, nonlinear methods via entropy and convexity have been playing an increasingly important role in the analysis of nonlinear partial differential equations in recent decades. This opening article of the theme issue is intended to provide an introduction to entropy, convexity, and related nonlinear methods for the analysis of nonlinear partial differential equations. We also provide a brief discussion about the content and contributions of the papers that make up this theme issue.

math.AP↗
arXiv2013

An investigation of non-planar austenite-martensite interfaces

Motivated by experimental observations on CuAlNi single crystals, we present a theoretical investigation of non-planar austenite-martensite interfaces. Our analysis is based on the nonlinear elasticity model for martensitic transformations and we show that, under suitable assumptions on the lattice parameters, non-planar interfaces are possible, in particular for transitions with cubic austenite.

math.AP↗
arXiv2013

Nucleation of austenite in mechanically stabilized martensite by localized heating

The nucleation of bcc austenite in a single crystal of a mechanically stabilized 2H-martensite of Cu-Al-Ni shape-memory alloy is studied. The nucleation process is induced by localized heating and observed by optical microscopy. It is observed that nucleation occurs after a time delay and that the nucleation points are always located at one of the corners of the sample (a rectangular bar in the austenite), regardless of where the localized heating is applied. Using a simplified nonlinear elasticity model, we propose an explanation for the location of the nucleation points, by showing that the martensite is a local minimizer of the energy with respect to localized variations in the interior, on faces and edges of the sample, but not at some corners, where a localized microstructure can lower the energy.

math.AP↗
arXiv2012

On uniqueness for time harmonic anisotropic Maxwell's equations with piecewise regular coefficients

We are interested in the uniqueness of solutions to Maxwell's equations when the magnetic permeability $μ$ and the permittivity $\varepsilon$ are symmetric positive definite matrix-valued functions in $\mathbb{R}^{3}$. We show that a unique continuation result for globally $W^{1,\infty}$ coefficients in a smooth, bounded domain, allows one to prove that the solution is unique in the case of coefficients which are piecewise $W^{1,\infty}$ with respect to a suitable countable collection of sub-domains with $C^{0}$ boundaries. Such suitable collections include any bounded finite collection. The proof relies on a general argument, not specific to Maxwell's equations. This result is then extended to the case when within these sub-domains the permeability and permittivity are only $L^\infty$ in sets of small measure.

math.AP↗