Random homogenization of an obstacle problem

We study the homogenization of an obstacle problem in a perforated domain, when the holes are periodically distributed and have random shape and size. The main assumption concerns the capacity of the holes which is assumed to be stationary ergodic.     

Shape Minimization of Dendritic Attenuation

What is the optimal shape of a dendrite? Of course, optimality refers to some particular criterion. In this paper, we look at the case of a dendrite sealed at one end and connected at the other end to a soma. The electrical potential in the fiber follows the classical cable equations as established by W. Rall. We are interested in the shape of the dendrite which minimizes either the attenuation in time of the potential or the attenuation in space. In both cases, we prove that the cylindrical shape is optimal.     

The Factorization Method for an Open Arc

We consider the inverse scattering problem of determining the shape of a thin dielectric infinite cylinder having an open arc as cross section. Assuming that the electric field is polarized in the TM mode, this leads to a mixed boundary value problem for the Helmholtz equation defined in the exterior of an open arc in $R^2$. We suppose that the arc has mixed Dirichlet-impedance boundary condition, and try to recover the shape of the arc through the far field pattern by using the factorization method. However, we are not able to apply the basic theorem introduced by Kirsch to treat the far field operator $F$, and some auxiliary operators have to be considered. The theoretical validation of the factorization method to our problem is given in this paper, and some numerical results are presented to show the viability of our method.     

Determining the parameters of a stratified piecewise constant medium for the unknown shape of an impulse source

For a hyperbolic wave equation with some parameter λ, we consider the problem of finding the piecewise constant wave propagation speed and a series of parameters in the conjugation condition. Moreover, the shape is assumed unknown of the impulse point source that excites the oscillation process. We prove that, under certain assumptions on the structure of the medium, its sought parameters are determined uniquely from the displacements of points of the boundary given for two different values of λ. We give an algorithm for solving the problem.     

Existence of Dendritic Crystal Growth with Stochastic Perturbations

Summary. We prove the first mathematical existence result for a model of dendritic crystal growth with thermal fluctuations. The incorporation of noise is widely believed to be important in solidification processes. Our result produces an evolving crystal shape and a temperature field satisfying the Gibbs-Thomson condition at the crystal interface and a heat equation with a driving force in the form of a spatially correlated white noise. We work in the regime of infinite mobility, using a sharp interface model with a smooth and elliptic anisotropic surface energy. Our approach permits the crystal to undergo topological changes. A time discretization scheme is used to approximate the evolution. We combine techniques from geometric measure theory and stochastic calculus to handle the singular geometries and take advantage of the cancellation properties of the white noise. Received April 7, 1997; revised October 30, 1997; accepted November 3, 1997     

Asymptotic behavior for the principal eigenvalue of a reinforcement problem

In this paper, we consider the asymptotic behavior for the principal eigenvalue of an elliptic operator with piecewise constant coefficients. This problem was first studied by Friedman in 1980. We show how the geometric shape of the interface affects the asymptotic behavior for the principal eigenvalue. This is a refinement of the result by Friedman.     

Existence and uniqueness of analytic solution for unsteady crystals with zero surface tension

We study the initial value problem for two-dimensional dendritic crystal growth with zero surface tension. If the initial data is analytic and close to Ivantsov steady solution, it is proved that unique analytic solution exists locally in time. The analysis is based on a Nirenberg Theorem on abstract Cauchy-Kovalevsky problem in properly chosen Banach spaces.     

Singularities, Shocks, and Instabilities in Interface Growth

Two-dimensional interface motion is examined in the setting of geometric crystal growth. We focus on the relationships between local curvature and global shape evolution displaying the dual role of singularities and shocks depending on the parameterization of the curve—the crystal surface. Discontinuities in surface slope accompany regions of asymptotically decreasing curvature during transient growth, whereas an absence of discontinuities preempts such asymptotic curvature evolution. In one parameterization, these discontinuities manifest themselves as a finite-time continuous blowup of curvature, and in another, as a shock and hence a localized divergence of curvature. Previously, it has been conjectured, based on numerical evidence, that the minimum blowup time is preempted by shock formation. We prove this conjecture in the present paper. Additionally we prove that a class of local geometric models preserves the convexity of the surface. These results are connected to experiments on crystal growth.     

Solving a free boundary problem with nonconstant coefficients

The present article is concerned with the numerical solution of a free boundary problem for an elliptic state equation with nonconstant coefficients. We maximize the Dirichlet energy functional over all domains of fixed volume. The domain under consideration is represented by a level set function, which is driven by the objective's shape gradient. The state is computed by the finite element method where the underlying triangulation is constructed by means of a marching cubes algorithm. We show that the combination of these tools lead to an efficient solver for general shape optimization problems.     

On the problem of determining the structure of a layered medium and the shape of an impulse source

For the equation of wave propagation in the half-space ? ₊ ² + = {(x, y) ∈ ?² | y > 0} we consider the problem of determining the speed of wave propagation that depends only on the variable y and the shape of a point impulse source on the boundary of the half-space. We show that, under some assumptions on the shape of the source and the structure of the medium, both unknown functions of one variable are uniquely determined by the displacements of boundary points of the medium. We estimate stability of a solution to the problem.     

Recent developments in the qualitative approach to inverse electromagnetic scattering theory

We consider the inverse scattering problem of determining both the shape and some of the physical properties of the scattering object from a knowledge of the (measured) electric and magnetic fields due to the scattering of an incident time-harmonic electromagnetic wave at fixed frequency. We shall discuss the linear sampling method for solving the inverse scattering problem which does not require any a priori knowledge of the geometry and the physical properties of the scatterer. Included in our discussion is the case of partially coated objects and inhomogeneous background. We give references for numerical examples for each problem discussed in this paper.     

Shape derivatives in Kondratiev spaces for conical diffraction

This paper studies conical diffraction problems with non‐smooth grating structures. We prove the existence, uniqueness and regularity results for solutions in weighted Sobolev spaces of Kondratiev type. An a priori estimate that follows from these results is then used to prove shape differentiability of solutions. Finally, a characterization of the shape derivative as a solution of a modified transmission problem is given. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Boundary feedback stabilization of the transmission problem of Naghdi's model

We consider the stabilization of the transmission problem of Naghdi's model by boundary feedbacks where the model has a middle surface of any shape. The exponential decay rate for the problem is established under some checkable geometric conditions on the middle surface.     

The inverse scattering problem for a partially coated cavity with interior measurements

We consider the interior inverse scattering problem of recovering the shape and the surface impedance of an impenetrable partially coated cavity from a knowledge of measured scatter waves due to point sources located on a closed curve inside the cavity. First, we prove uniqueness of the inverse problem, namely, we show that both the shape of the cavity and the impedance function on the coated part are uniquely determined from exact data. Then, based on the linear sampling method, we propose an inversion scheme for determining both the shape and the boundary impedance. Finally, we present some numerical examples showing the validity of our method.     

Existence and Stability for Spherical Crystals Growing in a Supersaturated Solution

We consider the growth of a spherical crystal in a supersaturatedsolution. In the first part, existence and uniqueness resultsfor radially symmetric growth are obtained, provided that thesupersaturation is not too large; conversely, when the far-fieldsupersaturation exceeds a critical value, it is shown that theradially symmetric solution ceases to exist in finite time.In the second part, we examine the linear stability of a radiallysymmetric similarity solution (in which the radius grows ast?) to shape perturbations. The results are compared with previousquasi-static analyses, and, in particular, the critical radiusat which the crystal becomes unstable is found to be largerfor small supersaturations, but smaller for large supersaturations,than those predicted by the quasi-static analysis     

The Freedericksz Transition and the Asymptotic Behavior in Nematic Liquid Crystals

We consider the stability of a specific nematic liquid crystal configuration under an applied magnetic field. We show that for some specific configuration there exist two critical values H_n and H_{sh} of applied magnetic field. When the intensity of the magnetic field is smaller than H_n, the configuration of the energy is only global minimizer, when the intensity is between H_n and H_{sh}, the configuration is not global minimizer, but is weakly stable, and when the intensity is larger than H_{sh}, the configuration is instable. Moreover, we also examine the asymptotic behavior of the global minimizer as the intensity tends to the infinity.     

On some local property of the shape of interfaces for the porous media equation

We consider the porous media equation with absorption for various conditions and prove that the shape of ist interface never becomes strongly upward convex. For this sake we derive an improperly posed estimate for solutions of the porous media equation for the non‐characteristic Cauchy problem (© 2009 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

A Regularized Newton Method in Inverse Scattering Problem from Cavities

We consider the inverse problem to determine the shape of a open cavity embedded in the infinite ground plane from knowledge of the far-field pattern of the scattering of TM polarization.For its approximate solution we propose a regularized Newton iteration scheme.For a foundation of Newton type methods we establish the Fréchet differentiability of solution to the scattering problem with respect to the boundary of the cavity.Some numerical examples of the feasibility of the method are presented.     

Mathematical basis of the linear sampling method for partially coated obstacles

We consider the inverse scattering problem of determining the shape of a partially coated obstacle D. To this end, we solve a scattering problem for the Helmholtz equation where the scattered field satisfies mixed Dirichlet–Neumann-impedance boundary conditions on the Lipschitz boundary of the scatterer D. Based on the analysis of the boundary integral system to the direct scattering problem, we propose how to reconstruct the shape of the obstacle D by using the linear sampling method.     

Univalent Functions in Two-Dimensional Free Boundary Problems

The main goal of the paper is to bring together methods of the classical theory of univalent functions and some problems of fluid mechanics. Our interest centers on free boundary problems. We study the time evolution of the free boundary of a viscous fluid in the zero- and nonzero-surface-tension models for planar flows in Hele-Shaw cells either with an extending to infinity free boundary or with a bounded free boundary. We consider special classes of univalent functions that admit an explicit geometric interpretation to characterize the shape of the free interface. Another model is two-dimensional solidification/melting of a nucleus in a forced flow.