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Matteo Focardi

Publications and source records attributed to Matteo Focardi.

36 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
arXiv2018

A note on the Hausdorff dimension of the singular set of solutions to elasticity type systems

We prove partial regularity for minimizers to elasticity type energies in the nonlinear framework {with $p$-growth, $p>1$,} in dimension $n\geq 3$. It is an open problem in such a setting either to establish full regularity or to provide counterexamples. In particular, we give an estimate on the Hausdorff dimension of the potential singular set by proving that is strictly less than {$n-(p^*\wedge 2)$, and actually $n-2$ in the autonomous case} (full regularity is well-known in dimension $2$). The latter result is instrumental to establish existence for the strong formulation of Griffith type models in brittle fracture with nonlinear constitutive relations, accounting for damage and plasticity in space dimensions $2$ and $3$.

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arXiv2018

Approximation of fracture energies with $p$-growth via piecewise affine finite elements

The modeling of fracture problems within geometrically linear elasticity is often based on the space of generalized functions of bounded deformation $GSBD^p(Ω)$, $p\in(1,\infty)$, their treatment is however hindered by the very low regularity of those functions and by the lack of appropriate density results. We construct here an approximation of $GSBD^p$ functions, for $p\in(1,\infty)$, with functions which are Lipschitz continuous away from a jump set which is a finite union of closed subsets of $C^1$ hypersurfaces. The strains of the approximating functions converge strongly in $L^p$ to the strain of the target, and the area of their jump sets converge to the area of the target. The key idea is to use piecewise affine functions on a suitable grid, which is obtained via the Freudhental partition of a cubic grid.

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arXiv2017

On the measure and the structure of the free boundary of the lower dimensional obstacle problem

We provide a thorough description of the free boundary for the lower dimensional obstacle problem in $\mathbb{R}^{n+1}$ up to sets of null $\mathcal{H}^{n-1}$ measure. In particular, we prove (i) local finiteness of the $(n-1)$-dimensional Hausdorff measure of the free boundary, (ii) $\mathcal{H}^{n-1}$-rectifiability of the free boundary, (iii) classification of the frequencies up to a set of dimension at most (n-2) and classification of the blow-ups at $\mathcal{H}^{n-1}$ almost every free boundary point.

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arXiv2017

Existence of strong minimizers for the Griffith static fracture model in dimension two

We consider the Griffith fracture model in two spatial dimensions, and prove existence of strong minimizers, with closed jump set and continuously differentiable deformation fields. One key ingredient, which is the object of the present paper, is a generalization of the decay estimate by De Giorgi, Carriero, and Leaci to the vectorial situation. This is based on replacing the coarea formula by a method to approximate $SBD^p$ functions with small jump set by Sobolev functions and is restricted to two dimensions. The other two ingredients are contained in companion papers and consist respectively in regularity results for vectorial elliptic problems of the elasticity type and in a method to approximate in energy $GSBD^p$ functions by $SBV^p$ ones.

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arXiv2016

The classical obstacle problem for nonlinear variational energies

We develop the complete free boundary analysis for solutions to classical obstacle problems related to nondegenerate nonlinear variational energies. The key tools are optimal $C^{1,1}$ regularity, which we review more generally for solutions to variational inequalities driven by nonlinear coercive smooth vector fields, and the results in \cite{FocGelSp15} concerning the obstacle problem for quadratic energies with Lipschitz coefficients. Furthermore, we highlight similar conclusions for locally coercive vector fields having in mind applications to the area functional, or more generally to area-type functionals, as well.

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arXiv2016

Fine regularity results for Mumford-Shah minimizers: porosity, higher integrability and the Mumford-Shah conjecture

We review some classical results and more recent insights about the regularity theory for local minimizers of the Mumford and Shah energy and their connections with the Mumford and Shah conjecture. We discuss in details the links among the latter, the porosity of the jump set and the higher integrability of the approximate gradient. In particular, higher integrability turns out to be related with an explicit estimate on the Hausdorff dimension of the singular set and an energetic characterization of the conjecture itself.

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arXiv2016

Existence of minimizers for the $2$d stationary Griffith fracture model

We consider the variational formulation of the Griffith fracture model in two spatial dimensions and prove existence of strong minimizers, that is deformation fields which are continuously differentiable outside a closed jump set and which minimize the relevant energy. To this aim, we show that minimizers of the weak formulation of the problem, set in the function space $SBD^2$ and for which existence is well-known, are actually strong minimizers following the approach developed by De Giorgi, Carriero, and Leaci in the corresponding scalar setting of the Mumford-Shah problem.

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arXiv2015

Integral representation for functionals defined on $SBD^p$ in dimension two

We prove an integral representation result for functionals with growth conditions which give coercivity on the space $SBD^p(Ω)$, for $Ω\subset\mathbb{R}^2$. The space $SBD^p$ of functions whose distributional strain is the sum of an $L^p$ part and a bounded measure supported on a set of finite $\mathcal{H}^{1}$-dimensional measure appears naturally in the study of fracture and damage models. Our result is based on the construction of a local approximation by $W^{1,p}$ functions. We also obtain a generalization of Korn's inequality in the $SBD^p$ setting.

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arXiv2015

Endpoint regularity of $2$d Mumford-Shah minimizers

We prove an $\varepsilon$-regularity theorem at the endpoint of connected arcs for $2$-dimensional Mumford-Shah minimizers. In particular we show that, if in a given ball $B_r (x)$ the jump set of a given Mumford-Shah minimizer is sufficiently close, in the Hausdorff distance, to a radius of $B_r (x)$, then in a smaller ball the jump set is a connected arc which terminates at some interior point $y_0$ and it is $C^{1,α}$ up to $y_0$.

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arXiv2015

An Epiperimetric Inequality for the Thin Obstacle problem

We prove an epiperimetric inequality for the thin obstacle problem, extending the pioneering results by Weiss on the classical obstacle problem (Invent. Math. 138 (1999), no. 1, 23-50). This inequality provides the means to study the rate of converge of the rescaled solutions to their limits, as well as the regularity properties of the free boundary.

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arXiv2015

Which special functions of bounded deformation have bounded variation?

Functions of bounded deformation ($BD$) arise naturally in the study of fracture and damage in a geometrically linear context. They are related to functions of bounded variation ($BV$), but are less well understood. We discuss here the relation to $BV$ under additional regularity assumptions, which may require the regular part of the strain to have higher integrability or the jump set to have finite area or the Cantor part to vanish. On the positive side, we prove that $BD$ functions which are piecewise affine on a Caccioppoli partition are in $GSBV$, and we prove that $SBD^p$ functions are approximately continuous ${\mathcal{H}}^{n-1}$-a.e. away from the jump set. On the negative side, we construct a function which is $BD$ but not in $BV$ and has distributional strain consisting only of a jump part, and one which has a distributional strain consisting of only a Cantor part.

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arXiv2015

Improved estimate of the singular set of Dir-minimizing Q-valued functions via an abstract regularity result

In this note we prove an abstract version of a recent quantitative stratifcation priciple introduced by Cheeger and Naber (Invent. Math., 191 (2013), no. 2, 321-339; Comm. Pure Appl. Math., 66 (2013), no. 6, 965-990). Using this general regularity result paired with an $\varepsilon$-regularity theorem we provide a new estimate of the Minkowski dimension of the set of higher multiplicity points of a Dir-minimizing Q-valued function. The abstract priciple is applicable to several other problems: we recover recent results in the literature and we obtain also some improvements in more classical contexts.

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arXiv2014

Phase field approximation of cohesive fracture models

We obtain a cohesive fracture model as a $Γ$-limit of scalar damage models in which the elastic coefficient is computed from the damage variable $v$ through a function $f_k$ of the form $f_k(v)=min\{1,\varepsilon_k^{1/2} f(v)\}$, with $f$ diverging for $v$ close to the value describing undamaged material. The resulting fracture energy can be determined by solving a one-dimensional vectorial optimal profile problem. It is linear in the opening $s$ at small values of $s$ and has a finite limit as $s\to\infty$. If the function $f$ is allowed to depend on the index $k$, for specific choices we recover in the limit Dugdale's and Griffith's fracture models, and models with surface energy density having a power-law growth at small openings.

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arXiv2014

A note on the hausdorff dimension of the singular set for minimizers of the mumford-shah energy

We give a more elementary proof of a result by Ambrosio, Fusco and Hutchinson to estimate the Hausdorff dimension of the singular set of minimizers of the Mumford-Shah energy (see [2, Theorem 5.6]). On the one hand, we follow the strategy of the above mentioned paper; but on the other hand our analysis greatly simplifies the argument since it relies on the compactness result proved by the first two Authors in [4, Theorem 13] for sequences of local minimizers with vanishing gradient energy, and the regularity theory of minimal Caccioppoli partitions, rather than on the corresponding results for Almgren's area minimizing sets.

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arXiv2013

Monotonicity formulas for obstacle problems with Lipschitz coefficients

We prove quasi-monotonicity formulas for classical obstacle-type problems with energies being the sum of a quadratic form with Lipschitz coefficients, and a Hölder continuous linear term. With the help of those formulas we are able to carry out the full analysis of the regularity of free-boundary points following the approaches by Caffarelli, Weiss and Monneau.

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arXiv2011

Lower semicontinuous functionals for Almgren's multiple valued functions

We consider general integral functionals on the Sobolev spaces of multiple valued functions, introduced by Almgren. We characterize the semicontinuous ones and recover earlier results of Mattila as a particular case. Moreover, we answer positively to one of the questions raised by Mattila in the same paper.

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arXiv2009

Aperiodic fractional obstacle problems

We determine the asymptotic behaviour of (bilateral) obstacle problems for fractional energies in rather general aperiodic settings via Gamma-convergence arguments. As further developments we consider obstacles with random sizes and shapes located on points of standard lattices, and the case of random homothetics obstacles centered on random Delone sets of points. Obstacle problems for non-local energies occur in several physical phenomenona, for which our results provide a description of the first order asympotitc behaviour.

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