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Mathias Schäffner

Publications and source records attributed to Mathias Schäffner.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Regularity for monotone Operators and applications to homogenization of $p$-Laplace type equations

In this manuscript, we provide local $L^q$-estimates for the gradient of solutions of a class of quasilinear equations whose principal part lacks strong monotonicity. These estimates are used to establish uniform large-scale $L^q$-estimates for the gradient of solutions of degenerate/singular quasilinear equations with oscillating coefficients and large-scale Lipschitz estimates for solutions of non-degenerate equations.

math.AP

Non-uniformly elliptic variational problems on BV

We establish $\mathrm{W}^{1,1}$-regularity and higher gradient integrability for relaxed minimizers of convex integral functionals on $\mathrm{BV}$. Unlike classical examples such as the minimal surface integrand, we only require linear growth from below but not necessarily from above. This typically comes with a non-uniformly degenerate elliptic behaviour, for which our results extend the presently available bounds from the superlinear growth case in a sharp way.

math.AP

On the Lavrentiev gap for convex, vectorial integral functionals

We prove the absence of a Lavrentiev gap for vectorial integral functionals of the form $$ F: g+W_0^{1,1}(Ω)^m\to\mathbb{R}\cup\{+\infty\},\qquad F(u)=\int_ΩW(x,\mathrm{D} u)\,\mathrm{d}x, $$ where the boundary datum $g:Ω\subset \mathbb{R}^d\to\mathbb{R}^m$ is sufficiently regular, $ξ\mapsto W(x,ξ)$ is convex and lower semicontinuous, satisfies $p$-growth from below and suitable growth conditions from above. More precisely, if $p\leq d-1$, we assume $q$-growth from above with $q\leq \frac{(d-1)p}{d-1-p}$, while for $p>d-1$ we require essentially no growth conditions from above and allow for unbounded integrands. Concerning the $x$-dependence, we impose a well-known local stability estimate that is redundant in the autonomous setting, but in the general non-autonomous case can further restrict the growth assumptions.

math.AP

Upper bounds for the homogenization problem in nonlinear elasticity: the incompressible case

We consider periodic homogenization of hyperelastic models incorporating incompressible behavior via the constraint $\det(\nabla u)=1$. We show that the 'usual' homogenized integral functional $\int W_{\rm hom}(\nabla u)\,dx$, where $W_{\rm hom}$ is the standard multicell-formula of non-convex homogenization restricted to volume preserving deformations, yields an upper bound for the $Γ$-limit as the scale of periodicity tends to zero.

math.AP

Lipschitz bounds for nonuniformly elliptic integral functionals in the plane

We study local regularity properties of local minimizer of scalar integral functionals with controlled $(p,q)$-growth in the two-dimensional plane. We establish Lipschitz continuity for local minimizer under the condition $1<p\leq q<\infty$ with $q<3p$ which improve upon the classical results valid in the regime $q<2p$. Along the way, we establish an $L^\infty$-$L^2$-estimate for solutions of linear uniformly elliptic equations in the plane which is optimal with respect to the ellipticity contrast of the coefficients.

math.AP

Local boundedness of minimizers under unbalanced Orlicz growth conditions

Local minimizers of integral functionals of the calculus of variations are analyzed under growth conditions dictated by different lower and upper bounds for the integrand. Growths of non-necessarily power type are allowed. The local boundedness of the relevant minimizers is established under a suitable balance between the lower and the upper bounds. Classical minimizers, as well as quasi-minimizers are included in our discussion. Functionals subject to so-called $p,q$-growth conditions are embraced as special cases and the corresponding sharp results available in the literature are recovered.

math.AP

New homogenization results for convex integral functionals and their Euler-Lagrange equations

We study stochastic homogenization for convex integral functionals $$u\mapsto \int_D W(ω,\tfrac{x}\varepsilon,\nabla u)\,\mathrm{d}x,\quad\mbox{where}\quad u:D\subset \mathbb{R}^d\to\mathbb{R}^m,$$ defined on Sobolev spaces. Assuming only stochastic integrability of the map $ω\mapsto W(ω,0,ξ)$, we prove homogenization results under two different sets of assumptions, namely $\bullet_1\quad$ $W$ satisfies superlinear growth quantified by the stochastic integrability of the Fenchel conjugate $W^*(\cdot,0,ξ)$ and a mild monotonicity condition that ensures that the functional does not increase too much by componentwise truncation of $u$, $\bullet_2\quad$ $W$ is $p$-coercive in the sense $|ξ|^p\leq W(ω,x,ξ)$ for some $p>d-1$. Condition $\bullet_2$ directly improves upon earlier results, where $p$-coercivity with $p>d$ is assumed and $\bullet_1$ provides an alternative condition under very weak coercivity assumptions and additional structure conditions on the integrand. We also study the corresponding Euler-Lagrange equations in the setting of Sobolev-Orlicz spaces. In particular, if $W(ω,x,ξ)$ is comparable to $W(ω,x,-ξ)$ in a suitable sense, we show that the homogenized integrand is differentiable.

math.AP

Local boundedness for $p$-Laplacian with degenerate coefficients

We study local boundedness for subsolutions of nonlinear nonuniformly elliptic equations whose prototype is given by $\nabla \cdot (λ|\nabla u|^{p-2}\nabla u)=0$, where the variable coefficient $0\leqλ$ and its inverse $λ^{-1}$ are allowed to be unbounded. Assuming certain integrability conditions on $λ$ and $λ^{-1}$ depending on $p$ and the dimension, we show local boundedness. Moreover, we provide counterexamples to regularity showing that the integrability conditions are optimal for every $p>1$.

math.AP

Lipschitz bounds for integral functionals with $(p,q)$-growth conditions

We study local regularity properties of local minimizer of scalar integral functionals of the form $$\mathcal F[u]:=\int_ΩF(\nabla u)-f u\,dx$$ where the convex integrand $F$ satisfies controlled $(p,q)$-growth conditions. We establish Lipschitz continuity under sharp assumptions on the forcing term $f$ and improved assumptions on the growth conditions on $F$ with respect to the existing literature. Along the way, we establish an $L^\infty$-$L^2$-estimate for solutions of linear uniformly elliptic equations in divergence form which is optimal with respect to the ellipticity contrast of the coefficients.

math.AP

Stochastic homogenization and geometric singularities : a study on corners

In this contribution we are interested in the quantitative homogenization properties of linear elliptic equations with homogeneous Dirichlet boundary data in polygonal domains with corners. To begin our study of this situation, we consider the setting of an angular sector in 2 dimensions : Unlike in the whole-space, on such a sector there exist non-smooth harmonic functions (these depend on the angle of the sector). Here, we construct extended homogenization correctors corresponding to these harmonic functions and prove growth estimates for these which are quasi-optimal, namely optimal up to a logarithmic loss. Our construction of the corner correctors relies on a large-scale regularity theory for a-harmonic functions in the sector, which we also prove and which, as a by-product, yields a Liouville principle. We also propose a nonstandard 2-scale expansion, which is adapted to the sectoral domain and incorporates the corner correctors. Our final result is a quasi-optimal error estimate for this adapted 2-scale expansion.

math.AP

Onset of fracture in random heterogeneous particle chains

In mechanical systems it is of interest to know the onset of fracture in dependence of the boundary conditions. Here we study a one-dimensional model which allows for an underlying heterogeneous structure in the discrete setting. Such models have recently been studied in the passage to the continuum by means of variational convergence ($Γ$-convergence). The $Γ$-limit results determine thresholds of the boundary condition, which mark a transition from purely elastic behaviour to the occurrence of a crack. In this article we provide a notion of fracture in the discrete setting and show that its continuum limit yields the same threshold as that obtained from the $Γ$-limit. Since the calculation of the fracture threshold is much easier with the new method, we see a good chance that this new approach will turn out useful in applications.

math.AP

Quantitative stochastic homogenization of nonlinearly elastic, random laminates

In this paper we study quantitative stochastic homogenization of a nonlinearly elastic composite material with a laminate microstructure. We prove that for deformations close to the set of rotations the homogenized stored energy function $W_{\rm hom}$ is $C^3$ and that $W_{\rm hom}$, the stress-tensor $DW_{\rm hom}$, and the tangent-moduli $D^2W_{\rm hom}$ can be represented with help of stochastic correctors. Furthermore, we study the error of an approximation of these quantities via representative volume elements. More precisely, we consider periodic RVEs obtained by periodizing the distribution of the random material. For materials with a fast decay of correlations on scales larger than a unit scale, we establish error estimates on the random and systematic error of the RVE with optimal scaling in the size of the RVE and with a multiplicative random constant that has exponential moments.

math.AP

Non-uniformly parabolic equations and applications to the random conductance model

We study local regularity properties of linear, non-uniformly parabolic finite-difference operators in divergence form related to the random conductance model on $\mathbb Z^d$. In particular, we provide an oscillation decay assuming only certain summability properties of the conductances and their inverse, thus improving recent results in that direction. As an application, we provide a local limit theorem for the random walk in a random degenerate and unbounded environment.

math.PR

Higher integrability for variational integrals with non-standard growth

We consider autonomous integral functionals of the form $\mathcal F[u]:=\int_Ωf(D u)\,dx$ with $u:Ω\to\mathbb R^N$ $N\geq1$, where the convex integrand $f$ satisfies controlled $(p,q)$-growth conditions. We establish higher gradient integrability and partial regularity for minimizers of $\mathcal F$ assuming $\frac{q}p<1+\frac2{n-1}$, $n\geq3$. This improves earlier results valid under the more restrictive assumption $\frac{q}p<1+\frac2{n}$.

math.AP

Growth conditions and regularity, an optimal local boundedness result

We prove local boundedness of local minimizers of scalar integral functionals $\int_Ωf(x,\nabla u(x))\,dx$, $Ω\subset\mathbb R^n$ where the integrand satisfies $(p,q)$-growth of the form \begin{equation*} |z|^p\lesssim f(x,z)\lesssim |z|^q+1 \end{equation*} under the optimal relation $\frac1p-\frac1q\leq \frac1{n-1}$.

math.AP

Derivation of a homogenized bending--torsion theory for rods with micro-heterogeneous prestrain

In this paper we investigate rods made of nonlinearly elastic, composite--materials that feature a micro-heterogeneous prestrain that oscillates (locally periodic) on a scale that is small compared to the length of the rod. As a main result we derive a homogenized bending-torsion theory for rods as $Γ$-limit from 3D nonlinear elasticity by simultaneous homogenization and dimension reduction under the assumption that the prestrain is of the order of the diameter of the rod. The limit model features a spontaneous curvature-torsion tensor that captures the macroscopic effect of the micro-heterogeneous prestrain. We device a formula that allows to compute the spontaneous curvature-torsion tensor by means of a weighted average of the given prestrain. The weight in the average depends on the geometry of the composite and invokes correctors that are defined with help of boundary value problems for the system of linear elasticity. The definition of the correctors depends on a relative scaling parameter $γ$, which monitors the ratio between the diameter of the rod and the period of the composite's microstructure. We observe an interesting size-effect: For the same prestrain a transition from flat minimizers to curved minimizers occurs by just changing the value of $γ$. Moreover, in the paper we analytically investigate the microstructure-properties relation in the case of isotropic, layered composites, and consider applications to nematic liquid-crystal-elastomer rods and shape programming.

math.AP

Mechanical behaviour of heterogeneous nanochains in the $Γ$-limit of stochastic particle systems

Nanochains of atoms, molecules and polymers have gained recent interest in the experimental sciences. This article contributes to an advanced mathematical modeling of the mechanical properties of nanochains that allow for heterogenities, which may be impurities or a deliberately chosen composition of different kind of atoms. We consider one-dimensional systems of particles which interact through a large class of convex-concave potentials, which includes the classical Lennard-Jones potentials. We allow for a stochastic distribution of the material parameters and investigate the effective behaviour of the system as the distance between the particles tends to zero. The mathematical methods are based on $Γ$-convergence, which is a suitable notion of convergence for variational problems, and on ergodic theorems as is usual in the framework of stochastic homogenization. The allowed singular structure of the interaction potentials causes mathematical difficulties that we overcome by an approximation. We consider the case of $K$ interacting neighbours with $K\in \mathbb{N}$ arbitrary, i.e., interactions of finite range.

math.AP