An Introduction to the Regularity Theory for Elliptic Systems, Harmonic Maps and Minimal Graphs

An Introduction to the Regularity Theory for Elliptic Systems, Harmonic Maps and Minimal Graphs
Author: Mariano Giaquinta
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 373
Release: 2013-07-30
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 8876424431

This volume deals with the regularity theory for elliptic systems. We may find the origin of such a theory in two of the problems posed by David Hilbert in his celebrated lecture delivered during the International Congress of Mathematicians in 1900 in Paris: 19th problem: Are the solutions to regular problems in the Calculus of Variations always necessarily analytic? 20th problem: does any variational problem have a solution, provided that certain assumptions regarding the given boundary conditions are satisfied, and provided that the notion of a solution is suitably extended? During the last century these two problems have generated a great deal of work, usually referred to as regularity theory, which makes this topic quite relevant in many fields and still very active for research. However, the purpose of this volume, addressed mainly to students, is much more limited. We aim to illustrate only some of the basic ideas and techniques introduced in this context, confining ourselves to important but simple situations and refraining from completeness. In fact some relevant topics are omitted. Topics include: harmonic functions, direct methods, Hilbert space methods and Sobolev spaces, energy estimates, Schauder and L^p-theory both with and without potential theory, including the Calderon-Zygmund theorem, Harnack's and De Giorgi-Moser-Nash theorems in the scalar case and partial regularity theorems in the vector valued case; energy minimizing harmonic maps and minimal graphs in codimension 1 and greater than 1. In this second deeply revised edition we also included the regularity of 2-dimensional weakly harmonic maps, the partial regularity of stationary harmonic maps, and their connections with the case p=1 of the L^p theory, including the celebrated results of Wente and of Coifman-Lions-Meyer-Semmes.

Elliptic Regularity Theory

Elliptic Regularity Theory
Author: Lisa Beck
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 214
Release: 2016-04-08
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 3319274856

These lecture notes provide a self-contained introduction to regularity theory for elliptic equations and systems in divergence form. After a short review of some classical results on everywhere regularity for scalar-valued weak solutions, the presentation focuses on vector-valued weak solutions to a system of several coupled equations. In the vectorial case, weak solutions may have discontinuities and so are expected, in general, to be regular only outside of a set of measure zero. Several methods are presented concerning the proof of such partial regularity results, and optimal regularity is discussed. Finally, a short overview is given on the current state of the art concerning the size of the singular set on which discontinuities may occur. The notes are intended for graduate and postgraduate students with a solid background in functional analysis and some familiarity with partial differential equations; they will also be of interest to researchers working on related topics.

Regularity of Minimal Surfaces

Regularity of Minimal Surfaces
Author: Ulrich Dierkes
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 634
Release: 2010-08-16
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 3642117007

Regularity of Minimal Surfaces begins with a survey of minimal surfaces with free boundaries. Following this, the basic results concerning the boundary behaviour of minimal surfaces and H-surfaces with fixed or free boundaries are studied. In particular, the asymptotic expansions at interior and boundary branch points are derived, leading to general Gauss-Bonnet formulas. Furthermore, gradient estimates and asymptotic expansions for minimal surfaces with only piecewise smooth boundaries are obtained. One of the main features of free boundary value problems for minimal surfaces is that, for principal reasons, it is impossible to derive a priori estimates. Therefore regularity proofs for non-minimizers have to be based on indirect reasoning using monotonicity formulas. This is followed by a long chapter discussing geometric properties of minimal and H-surfaces such as enclosure theorems and isoperimetric inequalities, leading to the discussion of obstacle problems and of Plateau ́s problem for H-surfaces in a Riemannian manifold. A natural generalization of the isoperimetric problem is the so-called thread problem, dealing with minimal surfaces whose boundary consists of a fixed arc of given length. Existence and regularity of solutions are discussed. The final chapter on branch points presents a new approach to the theorem that area minimizing solutions of Plateau ́s problem have no interior branch points.

Maximal Function Methods for Sobolev Spaces

Maximal Function Methods for Sobolev Spaces
Author: Juha Kinnunen
Publisher: American Mathematical Soc.
Total Pages: 354
Release: 2021-08-02
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1470465752

This book discusses advances in maximal function methods related to Poincaré and Sobolev inequalities, pointwise estimates and approximation for Sobolev functions, Hardy's inequalities, and partial differential equations. Capacities are needed for fine properties of Sobolev functions and characterization of Sobolev spaces with zero boundary values. The authors consider several uniform quantitative conditions that are self-improving, such as Hardy's inequalities, capacity density conditions, and reverse Hölder inequalities. They also study Muckenhoupt weight properties of distance functions and combine these with weighted norm inequalities; notions of dimension are then used to characterize density conditions and to give sufficient and necessary conditions for Hardy's inequalities. At the end of the book, the theory of weak solutions to the p p-Laplace equation and the use of maximal function techniques is this context are discussed. The book is directed to researchers and graduate students interested in applications of geometric and harmonic analysis in Sobolev spaces and partial differential equations.

Contemporary Research in Elliptic PDEs and Related Topics

Contemporary Research in Elliptic PDEs and Related Topics
Author: Serena Dipierro
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 502
Release: 2019-07-12
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 303018921X

This volume collects contributions from the speakers at an INdAM Intensive period held at the University of Bari in 2017. The contributions cover several aspects of partial differential equations whose development in recent years has experienced major breakthroughs in terms of both theory and applications. The topics covered include nonlocal equations, elliptic equations and systems, fully nonlinear equations, nonlinear parabolic equations, overdetermined boundary value problems, maximum principles, geometric analysis, control theory, mean field games, and bio-mathematics. The authors are trailblazers in these topics and present their work in a way that is exhaustive and clearly accessible to PhD students and early career researcher. As such, the book offers an excellent introduction to a variety of fundamental topics of contemporary investigation and inspires novel and high-quality research.

A Course in the Calculus of Variations

A Course in the Calculus of Variations
Author: Filippo Santambrogio
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 354
Release: 2024-01-18
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 3031450361

This book provides an introduction to the broad topic of the calculus of variations. It addresses the most natural questions on variational problems and the mathematical complexities they present. Beginning with the scientific modeling that motivates the subject, the book then tackles mathematical questions such as the existence and uniqueness of solutions, their characterization in terms of partial differential equations, and their regularity. It includes both classical and recent results on one-dimensional variational problems, as well as the adaptation to the multi-dimensional case. Here, convexity plays an important role in establishing semi-continuity results and connections with techniques from optimization, and convex duality is even used to produce regularity results. This is then followed by the more classical Hölder regularity theory for elliptic PDEs and some geometric variational problems on sets, including the isoperimetric inequality and the Steiner tree problem. The book concludes with a chapter on the limits of sequences of variational problems, expressed in terms of Γ-convergence. While primarily designed for master's-level and advanced courses, this textbook, based on its author's instructional experience, also offers original insights that may be of interest to PhD students and researchers. A foundational understanding of measure theory and functional analysis is required, but all the essential concepts are reiterated throughout the book using special memo-boxes.

Global Analysis of Minimal Surfaces

Global Analysis of Minimal Surfaces
Author: Ulrich Dierkes
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 547
Release: 2010-08-16
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 3642117066

Many properties of minimal surfaces are of a global nature, and this is already true for the results treated in the first two volumes of the treatise. Part I of the present book can be viewed as an extension of these results. For instance, the first two chapters deal with existence, regularity and uniqueness theorems for minimal surfaces with partially free boundaries. Here one of the main features is the possibility of "edge-crawling" along free parts of the boundary. The third chapter deals with a priori estimates for minimal surfaces in higher dimensions and for minimizers of singular integrals related to the area functional. In particular, far reaching Bernstein theorems are derived. The second part of the book contains what one might justly call a "global theory of minimal surfaces" as envisioned by Smale. First, the Douglas problem is treated anew by using Teichmüller theory. Secondly, various index theorems for minimal theorems are derived, and their consequences for the space of solutions to Plateau ́s problem are discussed. Finally, a topological approach to minimal surfaces via Fredholm vector fields in the spirit of Smale is presented.

Homogenization Theory for Multiscale Problems

Homogenization Theory for Multiscale Problems
Author: Xavier Blanc
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 469
Release: 2023-04-29
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 3031218337

The book provides a pedagogic and comprehensive introduction to homogenization theory with a special focus on problems set for non-periodic media. The presentation encompasses both deterministic and probabilistic settings. It also mixes the most abstract aspects with some more practical aspects regarding the numerical approaches necessary to simulate such multiscale problems. Based on lecture courses of the authors, the book is suitable for graduate students of mathematics and engineering.

Research in Mathematics of Materials Science

Research in Mathematics of Materials Science
Author: Malena I. Español
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 514
Release: 2022-09-27
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 3031044967

This volume highlights contributions of women mathematicians in the study of complex materials and includes both original research papers and reviews. The featured topics and methods draw on the fields of Calculus of Variations, Partial Differential Equations, Functional Analysis, Differential Geometry and Topology, as well as Numerical Analysis and Mathematical Modelling. Areas of applications include foams, fluid-solid interactions, liquid crystals, shape-memory alloys, magnetic suspensions, failure in solids, plasticity, viscoelasticity, homogenization, crystallization, grain growth, and phase-field models.

Fractional Elliptic Problems with Critical Growth in the Whole of $\R^n$

Fractional Elliptic Problems with Critical Growth in the Whole of $\R^n$
Author: Serena Dipierro
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 162
Release: 2017-03-14
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 8876426019

These lecture notes are devoted to the analysis of a nonlocal equation in the whole of Euclidean space. In studying this equation, all the necessary material is introduced in the most self-contained way possible, giving precise references to the literature when necessary. The results presented are original, but no particular prerequisite or knowledge of the previous literature is needed to read this text. The work is accessible to a wide audience and can also serve as introductory research material on the topic of nonlocal nonlinear equations.