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Now showing 1 - 10 of 119
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    Optimal Entropy-Transport problems and a new Hellinger–Kantorovich distance between positive measures
    (Berlin ; Heidelberg : Springer, 2017) 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. These problems arise quite naturally by relaxing the marginal constraints typical of Optimal Transport problems: given a pair 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, which 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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    Exploring families of energy-dissipation landscapes via tilting: three types of EDP convergence
    (Berlin ; Heidelberg : Springer, 2021) Mielke, Alexander; Montefusco, Alberto; Peletier, Mark A.
    We introduce two new concepts of convergence of gradient systems (Q,Eε,Rε) to a limiting gradient system (Q,E0,R0). These new concepts are called ‘EDP convergence with tilting’ and ‘contact–EDP convergence with tilting.’ Both are based on the energy-dissipation-principle (EDP) formulation of solutions of gradient systems and can be seen as refinements of the Gamma-convergence for gradient flows first introduced by Sandier and Serfaty. The two new concepts are constructed in order to avoid the ‘unnatural’ limiting gradient structures that sometimes arise as limits in EDP convergence. EDP convergence with tilting is a strengthening of EDP convergence by requiring EDP convergence for a full family of ‘tilted’ copies of (Q,Eε,Rε). It avoids unnatural limiting gradient structures, but many interesting systems are non-convergent according to this concept. Contact–EDP convergence with tilting is a relaxation of EDP convergence with tilting and still avoids unnatural limits but applies to a broader class of sequences (Q,Eε,Rε). In this paper, we define these concepts, study their properties, and connect them with classical EDP convergence. We illustrate the different concepts on a number of test problems.
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    Relating a Rate-Independent System and a Gradient System for the Case of One-Homogeneous Potentials
    (New York, NY [u.a.] : Springer Science + Business Media B.V., 2021) Mielke, Alexander
    We consider a non-negative and one-homogeneous energy functional J on a Hilbert space. The paper provides an exact relation between the solutions of the associated gradient-flow equations and the energetic solutions generated via the rate-independent system given in terms of the time-dependent functional E(t,u)=tJ(u) and the norm as a dissipation distance. The relation between the two flows is given via a solution-dependent reparametrization of time that can be guessed from the homogeneities of energy and dissipations in the two equations. We provide several examples including the total-variation flow and show that equivalence of the two systems through a solution dependent reparametrization of the time. Making the relation mathematically rigorous includes a careful analysis of the jumps in energetic solutions which correspond to constant-speed intervals for the solutions of the gradient-flow equation. As a major result we obtain a non-trivial existence and uniqueness result for the energetic rate-independent system.
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    A rigorous derivation and energetics of a wave equation with fractional damping
    (Basel : Springer, 2021) Mielke, Alexander; Netz, Roland R.; Zendehroud, Sina
    We consider a linear system that consists of a linear wave equation on a horizontal hypersurface and a parabolic equation in the half space below. The model describes longitudinal elastic waves in organic monolayers at the water–air interface, which is an experimental setup that is relevant for understanding wave propagation in biological membranes. We study the scaling regime where the relevant horizontal length scale is much larger than the vertical length scale and provide a rigorous limit leading to a fractionally damped wave equation for the membrane. We provide the associated existence results via linear semigroup theory and show convergence of the solutions in the scaling limit. Moreover, based on the energy–dissipation structure for the full model, we derive a natural energy and a natural dissipation function for the fractionally damped wave equation with a time derivative of order 3/2.
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    Symmetries in transmission electron microscopy imaging of crystals with strain
    (London : [Verlag nicht ermittelbar], 2022) Koprucki, Thomas; Maltsi, Anieza; Mielke, Alexander
    Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images of strained crystals often exhibit symmetries, the source of which is not always clear. To understand these symmetries, we distinguish between symmetries that occur from the imaging process itself and symmetries of the inclusion that might affect the image. For the imaging process, we prove mathematically that the intensities are invariant under specific transformations. A combination of these invariances with specific properties of the strain profile can then explain symmetries observed in TEM images. We demonstrate our approach to the study of symmetries in TEM images using selected examples in the field of semiconductor nanostructures such as quantum wells and quantum dots.
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    Modeling of Chemical Reaction Systems with Detailed Balance Using Gradient Structures
    (New York, NY [u.a.] : Springer Science + Business Media B.V., 2020) Maas, Jan; Mielke, Alexander
    We consider various modeling levels for spatially homogeneous chemical reaction systems, namely the chemical master equation, the chemical Langevin dynamics, and the reaction-rate equation. Throughout we restrict our study to the case where the microscopic system satisfies the detailed-balance condition. The latter allows us to enrich the systems with a gradient structure, i.e. the evolution is given by a gradient-flow equation. We present the arising links between the associated gradient structures that are driven by the relative entropy of the detailed-balance steady state. The limit of large volumes is studied in the sense of evolutionary Γ-convergence of gradient flows. Moreover, we use the gradient structures to derive hybrid models for coupling different modeling levels.
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    Traveling Fronts in a Reaction–Diffusion Equation with a Memory Term
    (New York, NY [u.a.] : Springer Science + Business Media B.V., 2022) Mielke, Alexander; Reichelt, Sina
    Based on a recent work on traveling waves in spatially nonlocal reaction–diffusion equations, we investigate the existence of traveling fronts in reaction–diffusion equations with a memory term. We will explain how such memory terms can arise from reduction of reaction–diffusion systems if the diffusion constants of the other species can be neglected. In particular, we show that two-scale homogenization of spatially periodic systems can induce spatially homogeneous systems with temporal memory. The existence of fronts is proved using comparison principles as well as a reformulation trick involving an auxiliary speed that allows us to transform memory terms into spatially nonlocal terms. Deriving explicit bounds and monotonicity properties of the wave speed of the arising traveling front, we are able to establish the existence of true traveling fronts for the original problem with memory. Our results are supplemented by numerical simulations.
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    A discrete variational principle for rate-independent evolution
    (Berlin : Weierstraß-Institut für Angewandte Analysis und Stochastik, 2008) Mielke, Alexander; Stefanelli, Ulisse
    We develop a global-in-time variational approach to the time-discretization of rate-independent processes. In particular, we investigate a discrete version of the variational principle based on the weighted energy-dissipation functional introduced by A. Mielke and M. Ortiz in ESAIM Control Optim. Calc. Var., 2008. We prove the conditional convergence of time-discrete approximate minimizers to energetic solutions of the time-continuous problem. Moreover, the convergence result is combined with approximation and relaxation. For a fixed partition the functional is shown to have an asymptotic development by Gamma convergence, cf. G. Anzellotti and S. Baldo (Appl. Math. Optim., 1993), in the limit of vanishing viscosity.
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    Crack growth in polyconvex materials
    (Berlin : Weierstraß-Institut für Angewandte Analysis und Stochastik, 2008) Knees, Dorothee; Zanini, Chiara; Mielke, Alexander
    We discuss a model for crack propagation in an elastic body, where the crack path is described a-priori. In particular, we develop in the framework of finite-strain elasticity a rate-independent model for crack evolution which is based on the Griffith fracture criterion. Due to the nonuniqueness of minimizing deformations, the energy-release rate is no longer continuous with respect to time and the position of the crack tip. Thus, the model is formulated in terms of the Clarke differential of the energy, generalizing the classical crack evolution models for elasticity with strictly convex energies. We prove the existence of solutions for our model and also the existence of special solutions, where only certain extremal points of the Clarke differential are allowed.
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    Modeling solutions with jumps for rate-independent systems on metric spaces
    (Berlin : Weierstraß-Institut für Angewandte Analysis und Stochastik, 2008) Mielke, Alexander; Rossi, Riccarda; Savaré, Giuseppe
    Rate-independent systems allow for solutions with jumps that need additional modeling. Here we suggest a formulation that arises as limit of viscous regularization of the solutions in the extended state space. Hence, our parametrized metric solutions of a rate-independent system are absolutely continuous mappings from a parameter interval into the extended state space. Jumps appear as generalized gradient flows during which the time is constant. The closely related notion of BV solutions is developed afterwards. Our approach is based on the abstract theory of generalized gradient flows in metric spaces, and comparison with other notions of solutions is given.