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Now showing 1 - 10 of 21
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    Passing from bulk to bulk/surface evolution in the Allen-Cahn equation
    (Berlin : Weierstraß-Institut für Angewandte Analysis und Stochastik, 2012) Liero, Matthias
    In this paper we formulate a boundary layer approximation for an Allen-Cahn-type equation involving a small parameter $eps$. Here, $eps$ is related to the thickness of the boundary layer and we are interested in the limit when $eps$ tends to 0 in order to derive nontrivial boundary conditions. The evolution of the system is written as an energy balance formulation of the L^2-gradient flow with the corresponding Allen-Cahn energy functional. By transforming the boundary layer to a fixed domain we show the convergence of the solutions to a solution of a limit system. This is done by using concepts related to Gamma- and Mosco convergence. By considering different scalings in the boundary layer we obtain different boundary conditions.
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    On the evolutionary Gamma-convergence of gradient systems modeling slow and fast chemical reactions
    (Berlin : Weierstraß-Institut für Angewandte Analysis und Stochastik, 2016) Disser, Karoline; Liero, Matthias; Zinsl, Jonathan
    We investigate the limit passage for a system of ordinary differential equations modeling slow and fast chemical reaction of mass-action type, where the rates of fast reactions tend to infinity. We give an elementary proof of convergence to a reduced dynamical system acting in the slow reaction directions on the manifold of fast reaction equilibria. Then we study the entropic gradient structure of these systems and prove an E-convergence result via Gamma-convergence of the primary and dual dissipation potentials, which shows that this structure carries over to the fast reaction limit. We recover the limit dynamics as a gradient flow of the entropy with respect to a pseudo-metric.
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    An evolutionary elastoplastic plate model derived via Gamma-convergence
    (Berlin : Weierstraß-Institut für Angewandte Analysis und Stochastik, 2010) Liero, Matthias; Mielke, Alexander
    This paper is devoted to dimension reduction for linearized elastoplasticity in the rate-independent case. The reference configuration of the three-dimensional elastoplastic body has a two-dimensional middle surface and a positive but small thickness. Under suitable scalings we derive a limiting model for the case in which the thickness of the plate tends to 0. This model contains membrane and plate deformations (linear Kirchhoff--Love plate), which are coupled via plastic strains. We establish strong convergence of the solutions in the natural energy space. The analysis uses an abstract Gamma-convergence theory for rate-independent evolutionary systems that is based on the notion of energetic solutions. This concept is formulated via an energy-storage functional and a dissipation functional, such that energetic solutions are defined in terms of a stability condition and an energy balance. The Mosco convergence of the quadratic energy-storage functional follows the arguments of the elastic case. To handle the evolutionary situation the interplay with the dissipation functional is controlled by cancellation properties for Mosco-convergent quadratic energies
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    Gradient structures and geodesic convexity for reaction-diffusion systems
    (Berlin : Weierstraß-Institut für Angewandte Analysis und Stochastik, 2012) Liero, Matthias; Mielke, Alexander
    We consider systems of reaction-diffusion equations as gradient systems with respect to an entropy functional and a dissipation metric given in terms of a so-called Onsager operator, which is a sum of a diffusion part of Wasserstein type and a reaction part. We provide methods for establishing geodesic lambda-convexity of the entropy functional by purely differential methods, thus circumventing arguments from mass transportation. Finally, several examples, including a drift-diffusion system, provide a survey on the applicability of the theory. We consider systems of reaction-diffusion equations as gradient systems with respect to an entropy functional and a dissipation metric given in terms of a so-called Onsager operator, which is a sum of a diffusion part of Wasserstein type and a reaction part. We provide methods for establishing geodesic lambda-convexity of the entropy functional by purely differential methods, thus circumventing arguments from mass transportation. Finally, several examples, including a drift-diffusion system, provide a survey on the applicability of the theory.
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    On microscopic origins of generalized gradient structures
    (Berlin : Weierstraß-Institut für Angewandte Analysis und Stochastik, 2015) Liero, Matthias; Mielke, Alexander; Peletier, Mark A.; Renger, D.R. Michiel
    Classical gradient systems have a linear relation between rates and driving forces. In generalized gradient systems we allow for arbitrary relations derived from general non-quadratic dissipation potentials. This paper describes two natural origins for these structures. A first microscopic origin of generalized gradient structures is given by the theory of large-deviation principles. While Markovian diffusion processes lead to classical gradient structures, poissonian jump processes give rise to cosh-type dissipation potentials. A second origin arises via a new form of convergence, that we call EDP-convergence. Even when starting with classical gradient systems, where the dissipation potential is a quadratic functional of the rate, we may obtain a generalized gradient system in the evolutionary Gamma-limit. As examples we treat (i) the limit of a diffusion equation having a thin layer of low diffusivity, which leads to a membrane model, and (ii) the limit of diffusion over a high barrier, which gives a reaction-diffusion system.
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    The elliptic-regularization principle in Lagrangian mechanics
    (Berlin : Weierstraß-Institut für Angewandte Analysis und Stochastik, 2011) Liero, Matthias; Stefanelli, Ulisse
    We present a novel variational approach to Lagrangian mechanics based on elliptic regularization with respect to time. A class of parameter-dependent global-in-time minimization problems is presented and the convergence of the respective minimizers to the solution of the system of Lagrange's equations is ascertained. Moreover, we extend this perspective to mixed dissipative/nondissipative situations, present a finite time-horizon version of this approach, and provide related Gamma-convergence results. Finally, some discussion on corresponding time-discrete versions of the principle is presented.
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    Hybrid finite-volume/finite-element schemes for p(x)-Laplace thermistor models
    (Berlin : Weierstraß-Institut für Angewandte Analysis und Stochastik, 2017) Fuhrmann, Jürgen; Glitzky, Annegret; Liero, Matthias
    We introduce an empirical PDE model for the electrothermal description of organic semiconductor devices by means of current and heat flow. The current flow equation is of p(x)-Laplace type, where the piecewise constant exponent p(x) takes the non-Ohmic behavior of the organic layers into account. Moreover, the electrical conductivity contains an Arrhenius-type temperature law. We present a hybrid finite-volume/finite-element discretization scheme for the coupled system, discuss a favorite discretization of the p(x)-Laplacian at hetero interfaces, and explain how path following methods are applied to simulate S-shaped current-voltage relations resulting from the interplay of self-heating and heat flow.
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    WIAS-TeSCA - Two-dimensional semi-conductor analysis package
    (Berlin : Weierstraß-Institut für Angewandte Analysis und Stochastik, 2016) Gajewski, Herbert; Liero, Matthias; Nürnberg, Reiner; Stephan, Holger
    WIAS-TeSCA (Two- and three-dimensional semiconductor analysis package) is a simulation tool for the numerical simulation of charge transfer processes in semiconductor structures, especially in semiconductor lasers. It is based on the drift-diffusion model and considers a multitude of additional physical effects, like optical radiation, temperature influences and the kinetics of deep impurities. Its efficiency is based on the analytic study of the strongly nonlinear system of partial differential equations – the van Roosbroeck system – which describes the electron and hole currents. Very efficient numerical procedures for both the stationary and transient simulation have been implemented. WIAS-TeSCA has been successfully used in the research and industrial development of new electronic and optoelectronic semiconductor devices such as transistors, diodes, sensors, detectors and lasers and has already proved its worth many times in the planning and optimization of these devices. It covers a broad spectrum of applications, from heterobipolar transistor (mobile telephone systems, computer networks) through high-voltage transistors (power electronics) and semiconductor laser diodes (fiber optic communication systems, medical technology) to radiation detectors (space research, high energy physics). WIAS-TeSCA is an efficient simulation tool for analyzing and designing modern semiconductor devices with a broad range of performance that has proved successful in solving many practical problems. Particularly, it offers the possibility to calculate self-consistently the interplay of electronic, optical and thermic effects.
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    Optimal Entropy-Transport problems and a new Hellinger-Kantorovich distance between positive measures
    (Berlin : Weierstraß-Institut für Angewandte Analysis und Stochastik, 2016) Liero, Matthias; Mielke, Alexander; Savaré, Giuseppe
    We develop a full theory for the new class of Optimal Entropy-Transport problems between nonnegative and finite Radon measures in general topological spaces. They arise quite naturally by relaxing the marginal constraints typical of Optimal Transport problems: given a couple of finite measures (with possibly different total mass), one looks for minimizers of the sum of a linear transport functional and two convex entropy functionals, that quantify in some way the deviation of the marginals of the transport plan from the assigned measures. As a powerful application of this theory, we study the particular case of Logarithmic Entropy-Transport problems and introduce the new Hellinger-Kantorovich distance between measures in metric spaces. The striking connection between these two seemingly far topics allows for a deep analysis of the geometric properties of the new geodesic distance, which lies somehow between the well-known Hellinger-Kakutani and Kantorovich-Wasserstein distances.
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    Homogenization of Cahn-Hilliard-type equations via evolutionary Gamma-convergence
    (Berlin : Weierstraß-Institut für Angewandte Analysis und Stochastik, 2015) Liero, Matthias; Reichelt, Sina
    In this paper we discuss two approaches to evolutionary Gamma-convergence of gradient systems in Hilbert spaces. The formulation of the gradient system is based on two functionals, namely the energy functional and the dissipation potential, which allows us to employ Gamma-convergence methods. In the first approach we consider families of uniformly convex energy functionals such that the limit passage of the time-dependent problems can be based on the theory of evolutionary variational inequalities as developed by Daneri and Savare 2010. The second approach uses the equivalent formulation of the gradient system via the energy-dissipation principle and follows the ideas of Sandier and Serfaty 2004. We apply both approaches to rigorously derive homogenization limits for Cahn-Hilliard-type equations. Using the method of weak and strong two-scale convergence via periodic unfolding, we show that the energy and dissipation functionals Gamma-converge. In conclusion, we will give specific examples for the applicability of each of the two approaches.