We establish the $Γ$-convergence of some energy functionals describing nonlocal attractive interactions in bounded domains. The interaction potential solves an elliptic equation (local or nonlocal) in the bounded domain and the primary interest of our results is to identify the effects that the boundary conditions imposed on the potential have on the limiting functional. We consider general Robin boundary conditions, which include Dirichlet and Neumann conditions as particular cases. Depending on the order of the elliptic operator the limiting functional involves the usual perimeter or some fractional perimeter.
We also consider the $Γ$-convergence of a related energy functional combining the usual perimeter functional and the nonlocal repulsive interaction energy.
We consider a class of nonlocal generalized perimeters which includes fractional perimeters and Riesz type potentials. We prove a general isoperimetric inequality for such functionals, and we discuss some applications. In particular we prove existence of an isoperimetric profile, under suitable assumptions on the interaction kernel.
We prove a quantitative version of the isoperimetric inequality for a non local perimeter of Minkowski type. We also apply this result to study isoperimetric problems with repulsive interaction terms, under convexity constraints. We show existence of minimizers, and we describe the shape of minimizers in certain parameter regimes.
The seminal results of Bourgain, Brezis, Mironescu and Dávila show that the classical perimeter can be approximated by a family of nonlocal perimeter functionals. We consider a corresponding second order expansion for the nonlocal perimeter functional. In a special case, the considered family of energies is also relevant for a variational model for thin ferromagnetic films. We derive the Gamma--limit of these functionals. We also show existence for minimizers with prescribed volume fraction. For small volume fraction, the unique, up to translation, minimizer of the limit energy is given by the…
For nonnegative even kernels $K$, we consider the $K$-nonlocal perimeter functional acting on sets. Assuming the existence of a foliation of space made of solutions of the associated $K$-nonlocal mean curvature equation in an open set $Ω\subset\mathbb{R}^n$, we built a calibration for the nonlocal perimeter inside $Ω\subset\mathbb{R}^n$. The calibrating functional is a nonlocal null-Lagrangian. As a consequence, we conclude the minimality in $Ω$ of each leaf of the foliation. As an application, we prove the minimality of $K$-nonlocal minimal graphs and that they are the unique minimizers subje…
This Master's thesis presents a study of the basic properties of the s-fractional perimeter and of the regularity theory of the corresponding s-minimal sets. In particular, we give full detailed proofs for all the Theorems contained in the article "Nonlocal Minimal Surfaces" by Caffarelli, Roquejoffre and Savin, where these s-minimal sets were introduced and studied for the first time.
We study a non local approximation of the Gaussian perimeter, proving the Gamma convergence to the local one. Surprisingly, in contrast with the local setting, the halfspace turns out to be a volume constrained stationary point if and only if the boundary hyperplane passes through the origin. In particular, this implies that Ehrhard symmetrization can in general increase the considered non local Gaussian perimeter.
We study a class of integral functionals known as nonlocal perimeters, which, intuitively, express a weighted interaction between a set and its complement. The weight is provided by a positive kernel K, which might be singular. In the first part of the paper, we show that these functionals are indeed perimeters in a generalised sense and we establish existence of minimisers for the corresponding Plateau problem. Also, when K is radial and strictly decreasing, we prove that halfspaces are minimisers if we prescribe flat boundary conditions. A Gamma-convergence result is discussed in the second …
We study a nonlocal perimeter functional inspired by the Minkowski content, whose main feature is that it interpolates between the classical perimeter and the volume functional. This problem is related by a generalized coarea formula to a Dirichlet energy functional in which the energy density is the local oscillation of a function. These two nonlocal functionals arise in concrete applications, since the nonlocal character of the problems and the different behaviors of the energy at different scales allow the preservation of details and irregularities of the image in the process of removing wh…
We obtain a sharp quantitative isoperimetric inequality for nonlocal $s$-perimeters, uniform with respect to $s$ bounded away from $0$. This allows us to address local and global minimality properties of balls with respect to the volume-constrained minimization of a free energy consisting of a nonlocal $s$-perimeter plus a non-local repulsive interaction term. In the particular case $s =1$ the $s$-perimeter coincides with the classical perimeter, and our results improve the ones of Knüpfer and Muratov concerning minimality of balls of small volume in isoperimetric problems with a competition b…
We consider the minimization of an energy functional given by the sum of a density perimeter and a nonlocal interaction of Riesz type with exponent $α$, under volume constraint, where the strength of the nonlocal interaction is controlled by a parameter $γ$. We show that for a wide class of density functions the energy admits a minimizer for any value of $γ$. Moreover these minimizers are bounded. For monomial densities of the form $|x|^p$ we prove that when $γ$ is sufficiently small the unique minimizer is given by the ball of fixed volume. In contrast with the constant density case, here the…
We prove the local minimality of halfspaces in Carnot groups for a class of nonlocal functionals usually addressed as nonlocal perimeters. Moreover, in a class of Carnot groups in which the De Giorgi's rectifiability Theorem holds, we provide a lower bound for the $Γ$-liminf of the rescaled energy in terms of the horizontal perimeter.
We consider here a nonlocal phase transition energy in a periodic medium and we construct solutions whose interfaces lie at a bounded distance from any given hyperplane. These solutions are either periodic or quasiperiodic, depending on the rational dependency of the normal direction to the reference hyperplane. Remarkably, the oscillations of the interfaces with respect to the reference hyperplane are bounded by a universal constant times the periodicity scale of the medium. This geometric property allows us to establish, in the limit, the existence of planelike nonlocal minimal surfaces in a…
We consider a core-radius approach to nonlocal perimeters governed by isotropic kernels having critical and supercritical exponents, extending the nowadays classical notion of $s$-fractional perimeter, defined for $0<s<1$, to the case $s\ge 1$\,. We show that, as the core-radius vanishes, such core-radius regularized $s$-fractional perimeters, suitably scaled, $Γ$-converge to the standard Euclidean perimeter. Under the same scaling, the first variation of such nonlocal perimeters gives back regularized $s$-fractional curvatures which, as the core radius vanishes, converge to the standard mean …
We study stable solutions to the fractional Allen-Cahn equation \linebreak $(-Δ)^{s/2} u = u-u^3$, $|u|<1$ in $\mathbb{R}^n$. For every $s\in (0,1)$ and dimension $n\geq 2$, we establish sharp energy estimates, density estimates, and the convergence of blow-downs to stable nonlocal $s$-minimal cones. As a consequence, we obtain a new classification result: if for some pair $(n,s)$, with $n\ge 3$, hyperplanes are the only stable nonlocal $s$-minimal cones in $\mathbb{R}^n\setminus\{0\}$, then every stable solution to the fractional Allen-Cahn equation in $\mathbb{R}^n$ is 1D, namely, its level …
The goal of this paper is to study the slow motion of solutions of the nonlocal Allen-Cahn equation in a bounded domain $Ω\subset \mathbb{R}^n$, for $n > 1$. The initial data is assumed to be close to a configuration whose interface separating the states minimizes the surface area (or perimeter); both local and global perimeter minimizers are taken into account. The evolution of interfaces on a time scale $\varepsilon^{-1}$ is deduced, where $\varepsilon$ is the interaction length parameter. The key tool is a second-order $Γ$-convergence analysis of the energy functional, which provides sharp …
In this paper, we investigate the minimization of a functional in which the usual perimeter is competing with a nonlocal singular term comparable (but not necessarily equal to) a fractional perimeter. The motivation for this problem is a cell motility model introduced in some previous work by the first author. We establish several facts about global minimizers with a volume constraint. In particular we prove that minimizers exist and are radially symmetric for small mass, while minimizers cannot be radially symmetric for large mass. For large mass, we prove that the minimizing sequences either…
We consider the nonexistence of minimizers for the energy containing a nonlocal perimeter with a general kernel $K$, a Riesz potential, and a background potential in $\mathbb{R}^N$ with $N\geq2$ under the volume constraint. We show that the energy has no minimizer for a sufficiently large mass under suitable assumptions on $K$. The proof is based on the partition of a minimizer and the comparison of the sum of the energy for each part with the energy for the original configuration. This strategy is shown in [R.A. Frank, R. Killip, P.T. Nam, 2016] and [D.A. La Manna, 2018]
This doctoral thesis is devoted to the analysis of some minimization problems that involve nonlocal functionals. We are mainly concerned with the $s$-fractional perimeter and its minimizers, the $s$-minimal sets. We investigate the behavior of sets having (locally) finite fractional perimeter and we establish existence and compactness results for (locally) $s$-minimal sets. We study the $s$-minimal sets in highly nonlocal regimes, that correspond to small values of the fractional parameter $s$. We introduce a functional framework for studying those $s$-minimal sets that can be globally written…
We consider the evolution of sets by nonlocal mean curvature and we discuss the preservation along the flow of two geometric properties, which are the mean convexity and the outward minimality. The main tools in our analysis are the level set formulation and the minimizing movement scheme for the nonlocal flow. When the initial set is outward minimizing, we also show the convergence of the (time integrated) nonlocal perimeters of the discrete evolutions to the nonlocal perimeter of the limit flow.
We consider the minimization of an energy functional given by the sum of a crystalline perimeter and a nonlocal interaction of Riesz type, under volume constraint. We show that, in the small mass regime, if the Wulff shape of the anisotropic perimeter has certain symmetry properties, then it is the unique global minimizer of the total energy. In dimension two this applies to convex polygons which are reflection symmetric with respect to the bisectors of the angles. We further prove a rigidity result for the structure of (local) minimizers in two dimensions.
We establish quantitative properties of minimizers and stable sets for nonlocal interaction functionals, including the $s$-fractional perimeter as a particular case. On the one hand, we establish universal $BV$-estimates in every dimension $n\ge 2$ for stable sets. Namely, we prove that any stable set in $B_1$ has finite classical perimeter in $B_{1/2}$, with a universal bound. This nonlocal result is new even in the case of $s$-perimeters and its local counterpart (for classical stable minimal surfaces) was known only for simply connected two-dimensional surfaces immersed in $\mathbb R^3$. On…
We prove existence of partitions of an open set $Ω$ with a given number of phases, which minimize the sum of the fractional perimeters of all the phases, with Dirichlet boundary conditions. In two dimensions we show that, if the fractional parameter $s$ is sufficiently close to $1$, the only singular minimal cone, that is, the only minimal partition invariant by dilations and with a singular point, is given by three half-lines meeting at $120$ degrees. In the case of a weighted sum of fractional perimeters, we show that there exists a unique minimal cone with three phases.
We consider a nonlocal functional $J_K$ that may be regarded as a nonlocal version of the total variation. More precisely, for any measurable function $u\colon \mathbb{R}^d \to \mathbb{R}$, we define $J_K(u)$ as the integral of weighted differences of $u$. The weight is encoded by a positive kernel $K$, possibly singular in the origin. We study the minimisation of this energy under prescribed boundary conditions, and we introduce a notion of calibration suited for this nonlocal problem. Our first result shows that the existence of a calibration is a sufficient condition for a function to be a …
We consider a minimization problem that combines the Dirichlet energy with the nonlocal perimeter of a level set, namely $$ \int_\Om |\nabla u(x)|^2\,dx+\Per\Big(\{u > 0\},\Om \Big),$$ with $σ\in(0,1)$. We obtain regularity results for the minimizers and for their free boundaries $\p \{u>0\}$ using blow-up analysis. We will also give related results about density estimates, monotonicity formulas, Euler-Lagrange equations and extension problems.
Given~$s,σ\in(0,1)$ and a bounded domain~$Ω\subset\R^n$, we consider the following minimization problem of $s$-Dirichlet plus $σ$-perimeter type $$ [u]_{ H^s(\R^{2n}\setminus(Ω^c)^2) } + \Per_σ\left(\{u>0\},Ω\right), $$ where~$[ \cdot]_{H^s}$ is the fractional Gagliardo seminorm and $\Per_σ$ is the fractional perimeter. Among other results, we prove a monotonicity formula for the minimizers, glueing lemmata, uniform energy bounds, convergence results, a regularity theory for the planar cones and a trivialization result for the flat case. Several classical free boundary problems are limit cases…
Recently Frank and Seiringer have shown an isoperimetric inequality for nonlocal perimeter functionals arising from Sobolev seminorms of fractional order. This isoperimetric inequality is improved here in a quantitative form.
We consider a Dirichlet to Neumann operator $\mathcal{L}_a$ arising in a model for water waves, with a nonlocal parameter $a\in(-1,1)$. We deduce the expression of the operator in terms of the Fourier transform, highlighting a local behavior for small frequencies and a nonlocal behavior for large frequencies. We further investigate the $ Γ$-convergence of the energy associated to the equation $ \mathcal{L}_a(u)=W'(u) $, where $W$ is a double-well potential. When $a\in(-1,0]$ the energy $Γ$-converges to the classical perimeter, while for $a\in(0,1)$ the $Γ$-limit is a new nonlocal operator, tha…
We consider some extensions of Gamow's liquid drop model for an atomic nucleus. We present a review of the classical model and then we illustrate some recent developments on a nonlocal variant, where the perimeter term is replaced by the fractional perimeter.
We consider surfaces which minimize a nonlocal perimeter functional and we discuss their interior regularity and rigidity properties, in a quantitative and qualitative way, and their (perhaps rather surprising) boundary behavior. We present at least a sketch of the proofs of these results, in a way that aims to be as elementary and self contained as possible.
Given an open set with finite perimeter $Ω\subset \mathbb{R}^n$, we consider the space $LD_γ^{p}(Ω)$, $1\leq p<\infty$, of functions with $p$th-integrable deformation tensor on $Ω$ and with $p$ th-integrable trace value on the essential boundary of $Ω$. We establish the continuous embedding $LD_γ^{p}(Ω)\subset L^{pN/(N-1)}(Ω)$. The space $LD_γ^{p}(Ω)$ and this embedding arise naturally in studying the motion of rigid bodies in a viscous, incompressible fluid.
We consider a one-phase nonlocal free boundary problem obtained by the superposition of a fractional Dirichlet energy plus a nonlocal perimeter functional. We prove that the minimizers are Hölder continuous and the free boundary has positive density from both sides. For this, we also introduce a new notion of fractional harmonic replacement in the extended variables and we study its basic properties.
Given a bounded $C^2$ domain $Ω\subset{\mathbb R}^d$ with $d\geq3$, we prove a sharp inequality which relates the perimeter of ${\partialΩ}$ to the endpoint Gagliardo seminorm in $W^{r,2}({\partialΩ})$, corresponding to $r=0$, of the normal vector field on ${\partialΩ}$. The proof of the inequality relies on the use of Bessel potentials and a monotonicity formula; we also show that balls are the unique minimizers. For $1/2<r<1$, the Gagliardo seminorm of the normal vector field on ${\partialΩ}$ is related to a fractional second fundamental form which arises in the study of nonlocal perimeters …
This paper is concerned with volume-constrained minimization problems derived from Gamow's liquid drop model for the atomic nucleus, involving the competition of a perimeter term and repulsive nonlocal potentials. We consider a large class of potentials, given by general radial nonnegative kernels which are integrable on $\mathbb{R}^n$, such as Bessel potentials, and study the behavior of the problem for large masses (i.e., volumes). Contrarily to the small mass case, where the nonlocal term becomes negligible compared to the perimeter, here the nonlocal term explodes compared to it. However, …
In this paper, we prove that for any bounded set of finite perimeter $Ω\subset \mathbb{R}^n$, we can choose smooth sets $E_k \Subset Ω$ such that $E_k \rightarrow Ω$ in $L^1$ and \begin{align} \label{moregeneralapproximation} \limsup_{i \rightarrow \infty} P(E_i) \le P(Ω)+C_1(n) \mathscr{H}^{n-1}(\partial Ω\cap Ω^1). \end{align}In the above $Ω^1$ is the measure-theoretic interior of $Ω$, $P(\cdot)$ denotes the perimeter functional on sets, and $C_1(n)$ is a dimensional constant. Conversely, we prove that for any sets $E_k \Subset Ω$ satisfying $E_k \rightarrow Ω$ in $L^1$, there exists a dimen…
We study a geometric variational problem for sets in the plane in which the perimeter and a regularized dipolar interaction compete under a mass constraint. In contrast to previously studied nonlocal isoperimetric problems, here the nonlocal term asymptotically localizes and contributes to the perimeter term to leading order. We establish existence of generalized minimizers for all values of the dipolar strength, mass and regularization cutoff and give conditions for existence of classical minimizers. For subcritical dipolar strengths we prove that the limiting functional is a renormalized per…
We investigate the shape of critical points for a free energy consisting of a nonlocal perimeter plus a nonlocal repulsive term. In particular, we prove that a volume-constrained critical point is necessarily a ball if its volume is sufficiently small with respect to its isodiametric ratio, thus extending a result previously known only for global minimizers. We also show that, at least in one-dimension, there exist critical points with arbitrarily small volume and large isodiametric ratio. This example shows that a constraint on the diameter is, in general, necessary to establish the radial sy…
It is a well known fact that in $\mathbb{R}^n$ a subset of minimal perimeter $L$ among all sets of a given volume is also a set of maximal volume among all sets of the same perimeter $L$. This is called the reciprocity principle for isoperimetric problems. The aim of this note is to prove this relation in the case where the class of admissible sets is restricted to the subsets of some subregion $G\subsetneq\mathbb{R}^n$. Furthermore, we give a characterization of those (unbounded) convex subsets of $\mathbb{R}^2$ in which the isoperimetric problem has a solution. The perimeter that we consider…
We are interested in nonlocal Eikonal Equations describing the evolution of interfaces moving with a nonlocal, non monotone velocity. For these equations, only the existence of global-in-time weak solutions is available in some particular cases. In this paper, we propose a new approach for proving uniqueness of the solution when the front is expanding. This approach simplifies and extends existing results for dislocation dynamics. It also provides the first uniqueness result for a Fitzhugh-Nagumo system. The key ingredients are some new perimeter estimates for the evolving fronts as well as so…
In this paper we establish optimal isoperimetric inequalities for a nonlocal perimeter adapted to the fractional powers of a class of Kolmogorov-Fokker-Planck operators which are of interest in physics. These operators are very degenerate and do not possess a variational structure. The prototypical example was introduced by Kolmogorov in his 1938 paper on brownian motion and the theory of gases. Our work has been influenced by ideas of M. Ledoux in the local case.
We study the localization of sets with constant nonlocal mean curvature and prescribed small volume in a bounded open set with smooth boundary, proving that they are {\em sufficiently close} to critical points of a suitable non-local potential. We then consider the fractional perimeter in half-spaces. We prove the existence of a minimizer under fixed volume constraint, showing some of its properties such as smoothness and symmetry, being a graph in the $x_N$-direction, and characterizing its intersection with the hyperplane $\{x_N=0\}$.
In this note we prove the following theorem in any Carnot group of step two $\mathbb{G}$: \[ \underset{s\nearrow 1/2}{\lim} (1 - 2s) \mathfrak P_{H,s}(E) = \frac{4}{\sqrt π}\ \mathfrak P_H(E). \] Here, $\mathfrak P_H(E)$ represents the horizontal perimeter of a measurable set $E\subset \mathbb{G}$, whereas the nonlocal horizontal perimeter $\mathfrak P_{H,s}(E)$ is a heat based Besov seminorm. This result represents a dimensionless sub-Riemannian counterpart of a famous characterisation of Bourgain-Brezis-Mironescu and Dávila.
We consider the free boundary problem arising from an energy functional which is the sum of a Dirichlet energy and a nonlinear function of either the classical or the fractional perimeter. The main difference with the existing literature is that the total energy is here a nonlinear superposition of the either local or nonlocal surface tension effect with the elastic energy. In sharp contrast with the linear case, the problem considered in this paper is unstable, namely a minimizer in a given domain is not necessarily a minimizer in a smaller domain. We provide an explicit example for this inst…
We prove that if the given compact set $K$ is convex then a minimizer of the functional $$ I(v)=\int_{B_R} |\nabla v|^p dx+\text{Per}(\{v>0\}),\,1<p<\infty, $$ over the set $\{v\in H^1_0(B_R)|\,\, v\equiv 1\,\,\text{on}\,\, K\subset B_R\}$ has a convex support, and as a result all its level sets are convex as well. We derive the free boundary condition for the minimizers and prove that the free boundary is analytic and the minimizer is unique.
In this paper we prove that the shape optimization problem $$\min\left\{λ_k(Ω):\ Ω\subset\R^d,\ Ω \hbox{open},\ P(Ω)=1,\ |Ω|<+\infty\right\},$$ has a solution for any $k\in\N$ and dimension $d$. Moreover, every solution is a bounded connected open set with boundary which is $C^{1,α}$ outside a closed set of Hausdorff dimension $d-8$. Our results are more general and apply to spectral functionals of the form $f(λ_{k_1}(Ω),\dots,λ_{k_p}(Ω))$, for increasing functions $f$ satisfying some suitable bi-Lipschitz type condition.
