Non-differentiable functionals and applications to elliptic problems with discontinuous nonlinearities

Multiple critical points theorems for non-differentiable functionals are established. Applications both to elliptic variational-hemivariational inequalities and eigenvalue problems with discontinuous nonlinearities are then presented.     

A class of history-dependent variational-hemivariational inequalities

We consider a new class of variational-hemivariational inequalities which arise in the study of quasistatic models of contact. The novelty lies in the special structure of these inequalities, since each inequality of the class involve unilateral constraints, a history-dependent operator and two nondifferentiable functionals, of which at least one is convex. We prove an existence and uniqueness result of the solution. The proof is based on arguments on elliptic variational-hemivariational inequalities obtained in our previous work [23], combined with a fixed point result obtained in [30]. Then, we prove a convergence result which shows the continuous dependence of the solution with respect to the data. Finally, we present a quasistatic frictionless problem for viscoelastic materials in which the contact is modeled with normal compliance and finite penetration and the elasticity operator is associated to a history-dependent Von Mises convex. We prove that the variational formulation of the problem cast in the abstract setting of history-dependent quasivariational inequalities, with a convenient choice of spaces and operators. Then we apply our general results in order to prove the unique weak solvability of the contact problem and its continuous dependence on the data.     

Prox-regularization and solution of ill-posed elliptic variational inequalities

In this paper new methods for solving elliptic variational inequalities with weakly coercive operators are considered. The use of the iterative prox-regularization coupled with a successive discretization of the variational inequality by means of a finite element method ensures well-posedness of the auxiliary problems and strong convergence of their approximate solutions to a solution of the original problem.In particular, regularization on the kernel of the differential operator and regularization with respect to a weak norm of the space are studied. These approaches are illustrated by two nonlinear problems in elasticity theory.     

Tikhonov regularization methods for inverse variational inequalities

The purpose of this paper is to study Tikhonov regularization methods for inverse variational inequalities. A rather weak coercivity condition is given which guarantees that the solution set of regularized inverse variational inequality is nonempty and bounded. Moreover, the perturbation analysis for the solution set of regularized inverse variational inequality is established. As an application, we show that solutions of regularized inverse variational inequalities form a minimizing sequence of the D-gap function under a mild condition.     

A VARIATIONAL-HEMIVARIATIONAL INEQUALITY IN CONTACT PROBLEM FOR LOCKING MATERIALS AND NONMONOTONE SLIP DEPENDENT FRICTION

We study a new class of elliptic variational-hemivariational inequalities arising in the modelling of contact problems for elastic ideally locking materials. The contact is described by the Signorini unilateral contact condition and the friction is modelled by the nonmonotone multivalued subdifferential condition which depends on the slip. The problem is governed by a nonlinear elasticity operator,the subdifferential of the indicator function of a convex set which describes the locking constraints and a nonconvex locally Lipschitz friction potential. The result on existence and uniqueness of solution to the inequality is shown. The proof is based on a surjectivity result for maximal monotone and pseudomonotone operators combined with the application of the Banach contraction principle.     

Regularization of quasi-variational inequalities

An ill-posed quasi-variational inequality with contaminated data can be stabilized by employing the elliptic regularization. Under suitable conditions, a sequence of bounded regularized solutions converges strongly to a solution of the original quasi-variational inequality. Moreover, the conditions that ensure the boundedness of regularized solutions, become sufficient solvability conditions. It turns out that the regularization theory is quite strong for quasi-variational inequalities with set-valued monotone maps but restrictive for generalized pseudo-monotone maps. The results are quite general and are applicable to ill-posed variational inequalities, hemi-variational inequalities, inverse problems, and split feasibility problem, among others.     

Existence results for variational-hemivariational problems with lack of convexity

We establish existence results of Hartmann-Stampacchia type for a class of variational-hemivariational inequalities on closed and convex sets (either bounded or unbounded) in a Hilbert space.     

Existence Results For Inequality Problems

We establish several existence results of Hartman-Stampacchia type for hemivariational inequalities on bounded and convex sets in a real reflexive Banach space. We also study the cases of coercive and noncoercive variational-hemivariational inequalities. Two applications on nonmonotone laws in networks and nonconvex semipermeability illustrate the abstract results.     

Solvability of nonlinear variational-hemivariational inequalities

In this paper we study nonlinear elliptic differential equations driven by the p-Laplacian with unilateral constraints produced by the combined effects of a monotone term and of a nonmonotone term (variational-hemivariational inequality). Our approach is variational and uses the subdifferential theory of nonsmooth functions and the theory of accretive and monotone operators. Also using these ideas and a special choice of the monotone term, we prove the existence of a strictly positive smooth solution for a class of nonlinear equations with nonsmooth potential (hemivariational inequality).     

On stably quasimonotone hemivariational inequalities

We establish some existence results for variational-hemivariational inequalities of the Hartman-Stampacchia type involving stably quasimonotone set-valued mappings on bounded, closed and convex subsets in reflexive Banach spaces. We also derive a sufficient condition for the existence and boundedness of solutions.     

Critical points for nondifferentiable functions in presence of splitting

A classical critical point theorem in presence of splitting established by Brézis-Nirenberg is extended to functionals which are the sum of a locally Lipschitz continuous term and of a convex, proper, lower semicontinuous function. The obtained result is then exploited to prove a multiplicity theorem for a family of elliptic variational-hemivariational eigenvalue problems.     

Partitionable variational inequalities with applications to network and economic equilibria

In this paper, we describe a useful class of finite-dimensional variational inequalities which we call partitionable. These variational inequalities are characterized by state functions which can be thought of as nonlinear separable functions added to antisymmetric linear functions. In the case of partitionable variational inequalities, questions of the monotonicity and coercivity of the state function can be addressed by considering the monotonicity and coercivity of a series of lower-dimensional functions. These functions are generally simpler to investigate than the state function. In the applications, these lower-dimensional functions are usually the natural functions to consider. To demonstrate, we conclude the paper by reviewing several models in the recent literature which give rise to partitionable variational inequalities.     

Regularization for a class of quasi-variational-hemivariational inequalities

The aim of the present paper is to study the solvability and regularization for a class of multivalued quasi-variational–hemivariational inequalities in reflexive Banach spaces. By applying the Kluge fixed point theorem and the Minty technique, we prove the solvability of the considered multivalued quasi-variational–hemivariational inequality, based on which some convergence results are obtained by introducing its regularization problem with the help of regularization operator. The applicability of the obtained abstract results is established by a mathematical model of a frictional contact problem with a class of elastic material, where the existence and stability results for the weak solution of contact problem are studied.     

Variational-hemivariational inequalities with small perturbations of nonhomogeneous Neumann boundary conditions

In this paper variational-hemivariational inequalities with nonhomogeneous Neumann boundary conditions are investigated. Under an appropriate oscillating behavior of the nonlinear term, the existence of infinitely many solutions to this type of problems, even under small perturbations of nonhomogeneous Neumann boundary conditions, is established.     

Analysis of a dynamic viscoelastic unilateral contact problem with normal damped response

In this paper we deal with a viscoelastic unilateral contact problem with normal damped response. The process is assumed to be dynamic and frictionless. Normal damping function is modeled by the Clarke subdifferential of a nonconvex and nonsmooth function. First, the variational formulation of this problem is provided in the form of a nonlinear first order variational–hemivariational inequality for the velocity field. Then, based on the surjectivity results for pseudomonotone and maximal monotone operators, we obtain the unique solvability for a new class of abstract evolutionary variational-hemivariational inequalities. Finally, we apply our abstract results to prove the existence of a unique weak solution to the corresponding contact problem.     

A Study of Regularization Techniques of Nondifferentiable Optimization in View of Application to Hemivariational Inequalities

This paper presents a study of regularization techniques of nondifferentiable optimization with focus to the application to a special class of hemivariational inequalities. We establish some convergence results for the regularization method of hemivariational inequalities. As a model example we consider the delamination problem for laminated composite structures and provide numerical experiments, which underline our regularization theory.     

A New Conical Regularization for Some Optimization and Optimal Control Problems: Convergence Analysis and Finite Element Discretization

In this article, we study an abstract constrained optimization problem that appears commonly in the optimal control of linear partial differential equations. The main emphasis of the present study is on the case when the ordering cone for the optimization problem has an empty interior. To circumvent this major difficulty, we propose a new conical regularization approach in which the main idea is to replace the ordering cone by a family of dilating cones. We devise a general regularization approach and use it to give a detailed convergence analysis for the conical regularization as well as a related regularization approach. We showed that the conical regularization approach leads to a family of optimization problems that admit regular multipliers. The approach remains valid in the setting of general Hilbert spaces and it does not require any sort of compactness or positivity condition on the operators involved. One of the main advantages of the approach is that it is amenable for numerical computations. We consider four different examples, two of them elliptic control problems with state constraints, and present numerical results that completely support our theoretical results and confirm the numerical feasibility of our approach. The motivation for the conical regularization is to overcome the difficulties associated with the lack of Slater's type constraint qualification, which is a common hurdle in numerous branches of applied mathematics including optimal control, inverse problems, vector optimization, set-valued optimization, sensitivity analysis, variational inequalities, among others.     

Control of Cauchy system for an elliptic operator

The control of a Cauchy system for an elliptic operator seems to be globally an open problem. In this paper, we analyze this problem using a regularization method which consists in viewing a singular problem as a limit of a family of well-posed problems. Following this analysis and assuming that the interior of considered convex is non-empty, we obtain a singular optimality system （S.O.S.） for the considered control problem.     

Singular limits for a parabolic–elliptic regularization of scalar conservation laws

We consider scalar hyperbolic conservation laws with a nonconvex flux, in one space dimension. Then, weak solutions of the associated initial value problems can contain undercompressive shock waves. We regularize the hyperbolic equation by a parabolic–elliptic system that produces undercompressive waves in the hyperbolic limit regime. Moreover we show that in another limit regime, called capillarity limit, we recover solutions of a diffusive–dispersive regularization, which is the standard regularization used to approximate undercompressive waves. In fact the new parabolic–elliptic system can be understood as a low-order approximation of the third-order diffusive–dispersive regularization, thus sharing some similarities with the relaxation approximations. A study of the traveling waves for the parabolic–elliptic system completes the paper.     

Minimal Coercivity Conditions and Exceptional Families of Elements in Quasimonotone Variational Inequalities

A coercivity condition is usually assumed in variational inequalities over noncompact domains to guarantee the existence of a solution. We derive minimal, i.e., necessary coercivity conditions for pseudomonotone and quasimonotone variational inequalities to have a nonempty, possibly unbounded solution set. Similarly, a minimal coercivity condition is derived for quasimonotone variational inequalities to have a nonempty, bounded solution set, thereby complementing recent studies for the pseudomonotone case. Finally, for quasimonotone complementarity problems, previous existence results involving so-called exceptional families of elements are strengthened by considerably weakening assumptions in the literature.