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Scott N. Armstrong

Publications and source records attributed to Scott N. Armstrong.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Quantitative stochastic homogenization of elliptic equations in nondivergence form

We introduce a new method for studying stochastic homogenization of elliptic equations in nondivergence form. The main application is an algebraic error estimate, asserting that deviations from the homogenized limit are at most proportional to a power of the microscopic length scale, assuming a finite range of dependence. The results are new even for linear equations. The arguments rely on a new geometric quantity which is controlled in part by adapting elements of the regularity theory for the Monge-Ampère equation.

math.AP

Local asymptotics for controlled martingales

We consider controlled martingales with bounded steps where the controller is allowed at each step to choose the distribution of the next step, and where the goal is to hit a fixed ball at the origin at time $n$. We show that the algebraic rate of decay (as $n$ increases to infinity) of the value function in the discrete setup coincides with its continuous counterpart, provided a reachability assumption is satisfied. We also study in some detail the uniformly elliptic case and obtain explicit bounds on the rate of decay. This generalizes and improves upon several recent studies of the one dimensional case, and is a discrete analogue of a stochastic control problem recently investigated in Armstrong and Trokhimtchouck [Calc. Var. Partial Differential Equations 38 (2010) 521-540].

math.PR

Lipschitz regularity for elliptic equations with random coefficients

We develop a higher regularity theory for general quasilinear elliptic equations and systems in divergence form with random coefficients. The main result is a large-scale $L^\infty$-type estimate for the gradient of a solution. The estimate is proved with optimal stochastic integrability under a one-parameter family of mixing assumptions, allowing for very weak mixing with non-integrable correlations to very strong mixing (e.g., finite range of dependence). We also prove a quenched $L^2$ estimate for the error in homogenization of Dirichlet problems. The approach is based on subadditive arguments which rely on a variational formulation of general quasilinear divergence-form equations.

math.AP

Quantitative stochastic homogenization of convex integral functionals

We present quantitative results for the homogenization of uniformly convex integral functionals with random coefficients under independence assumptions. The main result is an error estimate for the Dirichlet problem which is algebraic (but sub-optimal) in the size of the error, but optimal in stochastic integrability. As an application, we obtain quenched $C^{0,1}$ estimates for local minimizers of such energy functionals.

math.AP

Regularity and stochastic homogenization of fully nonlinear equations without uniform ellipticity

We prove regularity and stochastic homogenization results for certain degenerate elliptic equations in nondivergence form. The equation is required to be strictly elliptic, but the ellipticity may oscillate on the microscopic scale and is only assumed to have a finite $d$th moment, where $d$ is the dimension. In the general stationary-ergodic framework, we show that the equation homogenizes to a deterministic, uniformly elliptic equation, and we obtain an explicit estimate of the effective ellipticity, which is new even in the uniformly elliptic context. Showing that such an equation behaves like a uniformly elliptic equation requires a novel reworking of the regularity theory. We prove deterministic estimates depending on averaged quantities involving the distribution of the ellipticity, which are controlled in the macroscopic limit by the ergodic theorem. We show that the moment condition is sharp by giving an explicit example of an equation whose ellipticity has a finite $p$th moment, for every $p<d$, but for which regularity and homogenization break down. In probabilistic terms, the homogenization results correspond to quenched invariance principles for diffusion processes in random media, including linear diffusions as well as diffusions controlled by one controller or two competing players.

math.AP

Lipschitz estimates in almost-periodic homogenization

We establish uniform Lipschitz estimates for second-order elliptic systems in divergence form with rapidly oscillating, almost-periodic coefficients. We give interior estimates as well as estimates up to the boundary in bounded $C^{1,α}$ domains with either Dirichlet or Neumann data. The main results extend those in the periodic setting due to Avellaneda and Lin for interior and Dirichlet boundary estimates and later Kenig, Lin, and Shen for the Neumann boundary conditions. In contrast to these papers, our arguments are constructive (and thus the constants are in principle computable) and the results for the Neumann conditions are new even in the periodic setting, since we can treat non-symmetric coefficients. We also obtain uniform $W^{1,p}$ estimates.

math.AP

Quantitative stochastic homogenization of viscous Hamilton-Jacobi equations

We prove explicit estimates for the error in random homogenization of degenerate, second-order Hamilton-Jacobi equations, assuming the coefficients satisfy a finite range of dependence. In particular, we obtain an algebraic rate of convergence with overwhelming probability under certain structural conditions on the Hamiltonian.

math.AP

Stochastic homogenization of a nonconvex Hamilton-Jacobi equation

We present a proof of qualitative stochastic homogenization for a nonconvex Hamilton-Jacobi equation. The new idea is to introduce a family of "sub-equations" and to control solutions of the original equation by the maximal subsolutions of the latter, which have deterministic limits by the subadditive ergodic theorem and maximality.

math.AP

Stochastic homogenization of viscous Hamilton-Jacobi equations and applications

We present stochastic homogenization results for viscous Hamilton-Jacobi equations using a new argument which is based only on the subadditive structure of maximal subsolutions (solutions of the "metric problem"). This permits us to give qualitative homogenization results under very general hypotheses: in particular, we treat non-uniformly coercive Hamiltonians which satisfy instead a weaker averaging condition. As an application, we derive a general quenched large deviations principle for diffusions in random environments and with absorbing random potentials.

math.AP

Error estimates and convergence rates for the stochastic homogenization of Hamilton-Jacobi equations

We present exponential error estimates and demonstrate an algebraic convergence rate for the homogenization of level-set convex Hamilton-Jacobi equations in i.i.d. random environments, the first quantitative homogenization results for these equations in the stochastic setting. By taking advantage of a connection between the metric approach to homogenization and the theory of first-passage percolation, we obtain estimates on the fluctuations of the solutions to the approximate cell problem in the ballistic regime (away from flat spot of the effective Hamiltonian). In the sub-ballistic regime (on the flat spot), we show that the fluctuations are governed by an entirely different mechanism and the homogenization may proceed, without further assumptions, at an arbitrarily slow rate. We identify a necessary and sufficient condition on the law of the Hamiltonian for an algebraic rate of convergence to hold in the sub-ballistic regime and show, under this hypothesis, that the two rates may be merged to yield comprehensive error estimates and an algebraic rate of convergence for homogenization. Our methods are novel and quite different from the techniques employed in the periodic setting, although we benefit from previous works in both first-passage percolation and homogenization. The link between the rate of homogenization and the flat spot of the effective Hamiltonian, which is related to the nonexistence of correctors, is a purely random phenomenon observed here for the first time.

math.AP

Remarks on a constrained optimization problem for the Ginibre ensemble

We study the limiting distribution of the eigenvalues of the Ginibre ensemble conditioned on the event that a certain proportion lie in a given region of the complex plane. Using an equivalent formulation as an obstacle problem, we describe the optimal distribution and some of its monotonicity properties.

math.PR

Stochastic homogenization of fully nonlinear uniformly elliptic equations revisited

We give a simplified presentation of the obstacle problem approach to stochastic homogenization for elliptic equations in nondivergence form. Our argument also applies to equations which depend on the gradient of the unknown function. In the latter case, we overcome difficulties caused by a lack of estimates for the first derivatives of approximate correctors by modifying the perturbed test function argument to take advantage of the spreading of the contact set.

math.AP

Stochastic homogenization of level-set convex Hamilton-Jacobi equations

We present a simple new proof for the stochastic homogenization of quasiconvex (level-set convex) Hamilton-Jacobi equations set in stationary ergodic environments. Our approach, which is new even in the convex case, yields more information about the qualitative behavior of the effective nonlinearity.

math.AP

Concentration phenomena for neutronic multigroup diffusion in random environments

We study the asymptotic behavior of the principal eigenvalue of a weakly coupled, cooperative linear elliptic system in a stationary ergodic heterogeneous medium. The system arises as the so-called multigroup diffusion model for neutron flux in nuclear reactor cores, the principal eigenvalue determining the criticality of the reactor in a stationary state. Such systems have been well-studied in recent years in the periodic setting, and the purpose of this work is to obtain results in random media. Our approach connects the linear eigenvalue problem to a system of quasilinear viscous Hamilton-Jacobi equations. By homogenizing the latter, we characterize the asymptotic behavior of the eigenvalue of the linear problem and exhibit some concentration behavior of the eigenfunctions.

math.AP

Stochastic homogenization of $L^\infty$ variational problems

We present a homogenization result for $L^\infty$ variational problems in general stationary ergodic random environments. By introducing a generalized notion of distance function (a special solution of an associated eikonal equation) and demonstrating a connection to absolute minimizers of the variational problem, we obtain the homogenization result as a consequence of the fact that the latter homogenizes in random environments.

math.AP

A finite difference approach to the infinity Laplace equation and tug-of-war games

We present a modified version of the two-player "tug-of-war" game introduced by Peres, Schramm, Sheffield, and Wilson. This new tug-of-war game is identical to the original except near the boundary of the domain $\partial Ω$, but its associated value functions are more regular. The dynamic programming principle implies that the value functions satisfy a certain finite difference equation. By studying this difference equation directly and adapting techniques from viscosity solution theory, we prove a number of new results. We show that the finite difference equation has unique maximal and minimal solutions, which are identified as the value functions for the two tug-of-war players. We demonstrate uniqueness, and hence the existence of a value for the game, in the case that the running payoff function is nonnegative. We also show that uniqueness holds in certain cases for sign-changing running payoff functions which are sufficiently small. In the limit $ε\to 0$, we obtain the convergence of the value functions to a viscosity solution of the normalized infinity Laplace equation. We also obtain several new results for the normalized infinity Laplace equation $-Δ_\infty u = f$. In particular, we demonstrate the existence of solutions to the Dirichlet problem for any bounded continuous $f$, and continuous boundary data, as well as the uniqueness of solutions to this problem in the generic case. We present a new elementary proof of uniqueness in the case that $f>0$, $f< 0$, or $f\equiv 0$. The stability of the solutions with respect to $f$ is also studied, and an explicit continuous dependence estimate from $f\equiv 0$ is obtained.

math.AP

Stochastic homogenization of Hamilton-Jacobi and degenerate Bellman equations in unbounded environments

We consider the homogenization of Hamilton-Jacobi equations and degenerate Bellman equations in stationary, ergodic, unbounded environments. We prove that, as the microscopic scale tends to zero, the equation averages to a deterministic Hamilton-Jacobi equation and study some properties of the effective Hamiltonian. We discover a connection between the effective Hamiltonian and an eikonal-type equation in exterior domains. In particular, we obtain a new formula for the effective Hamiltonian. To prove the results we introduce a new strategy to obtain almost sure homogenization, completing a program proposed by Lions and Souganidis that previously yielded homogenization in probability. The class of problems we study is strongly motivated by Sznitman's study of the quenched large deviations of Brownian motion interacting with a Poissonian potential, but applies to a general class of problems which are not amenable to probabilistic tools.

math.AP