Subdifferential characterization of s-lower regular functions

As for Moreau envelopes of primal lower nice as well as prox-regular functions, Moreau s-envelopes of s-lower regular functions have been proved recently to have several remarkable differential properties and to have many important applications. Here, we provide a subdifferential characterization of extended real-valued s-lower regular functions on Banach spaces in terms of a hypomonotonicity-like property of the subdifferential.     

Existence results for evolutionary inclusions and variational–hemivariational inequalities

We consider an abstract first-order evolutionary inclusion in a reflexive Banach space. The inclusion contains the sum of L-pseudomonotone operator and a maximal monotone operator. We provide an existence theorem which is a generalization of former results known in the literature. Next, we apply our result to the case of nonlinear variational–hemivariational inequalities considered in the setting of an evolution triple of spaces. We specify the multivalued operators in the problem and obtain existence results for several classes of variational–hemivariational inequality problems. Finally, we illustrate our existence result and treat a class of quasilinear parabolic problems under nonmonotone and multivalued flux boundary conditions.     

Well-behaved asymptotical convex-concave functions

Recently Auslender & Crouzeix introduced a well-behaved asymptotical notion for convex functions. The aim of this work is to extend this notion to the saddle case     

A dynamic frictional contact problem for piezoelectric materials

We consider a mathematical model which describes the frictional contact between a piezoelectric body and an electrically conductive foundation. The process is dynamic, the material's behavior is modeled with an electro-viscoelastic constitutive law and the contact is described by subdifferential boundary conditions. We derive the variational formulation of the problem which is in the form of a system involving a second order evolutionary hemivariational inequality for the displacement field coupled with a time-dependent hemivariational inequality for the electric potential field. Then we prove the existence of a unique weak solution to the model. The proof is based on arguments of abstract second order evolutionary inclusions with monotone operators.     

Attainment and (sub)differentiability of the infimal convolution of a function and the square of the norm

Let X be a Banach space whose norm is simultaneously LUR and Gateaux (Fréchet) smooth. Under some assumptions, it is shown that the infimal convolution of a fairly general function on X and the square of the norm is generically strongly attained and hence is Gateaux (Fréchet) differentiable. This contains a result of S. Dutta on distance functions.     

Variational analysis of fully coupled electro‐elastic frictional contact problems

We consider a mathematical model which describes the static frictional contact between a piezoelectric body and a foundation. The material behavior is described with a nonlinear electro‐elastic constitutive law. The novelty of the model consists in the fact that the foundation is assumed to be electrically conductive and both the frictional contact and the conductivity on the contact surface are described with subdifferential boundary conditions which involve a fully coupling between the mechanical and electrical variables. We derive a variational formulation of the problem which is in the form of a system coupling two hemivariational inequalities for the displacement and the electric potential fields, respectively. Then we prove the existence of a weak solution to the model and, under additional assumptions, its uniqueness. The proofs are based on recent results for inclusions of subdifferential type in Sobolev spaces (© 2010 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Existence and Uniqueness to a Dynamic Bilateral Frictional Contact Problem in Viscoelasticity

In this paper we examine an evolution problem which describes the dynamic bilateral contact of a viscoelastic body and a foundation. The contact is modeled by a friction multivalued subdifferential boundary condition which incorporates the Coulomb law of friction, the SJK model and the orthotropic friction law. The main result concerns the existence and uniqueness of weak solutions to the hyperbolic variational inequality when the friction coefficient is sufficiently small. The proof is based on a surjectivity result for multivalued operators and a fixed point argument. Research supported in part by the State Committee for Scientific Research of the Republic of Poland (KBN) under Grants no. 2 P03A 003 25 and 4 T07A 027 26.     

Unified approach to some geometric results in variational analysis

Based on a study of a minimization problem, we present the following results applicable to possibly nonconvex sets in a Banach space: an approximate projection result, an extended extremal principle, a nonconvex separation theorem, a generalized Bishop-Phelps theorem and a separable point result. The classical result of Dieudonné (on separation of two convex sets in a finite-dimensional space) is also extended to a nonconvex setting.     

Approximation of continuous set-valued maps by constant set-valued maps with image balls

It is shown that the problem of the best uniform approximation in the Hausdorff metric of a continuous set-valued map with finite-dimensional compact convex images by constant set-valued maps whose images are balls in some norm can be reduced to a visual geometric problem. The latter consists in constructing a spherical layer of minimal thickness which contains the complement of a compact convex set to a larger compact convex set.     

Convex composite functions in Banach spaces and the primal lower-nice property

Primal lower-nice functions defined on Hilbert spaces provide examples of functions that are ``integrable' (i.e. of functions that are determined up to an additive constant by their subgradients). The class of primal lower-nice functions contains all convex and lower- functions. In finite dimensions the class of primal lower-nice functions also contains the composition of a convex function with a mapping under a constraint qualification. In Banach spaces certain convex composite functions were known to be primal lower-nice (e.g. a convex function had to be continuous relative to its domain). In this paper we weaken the assumptions and provide new examples of convex composite functions defined on a Banach space with the primal lower-nice property. One consequence of our results is the identification of new examples of integrable functions on Hilbert spaces.