An asymptotic analysis for a nonstandard Cahn-Hilliard system with viscosity (Q1942774)

The authors study a diffusion model of phase-field type. This model was developed in a series of papers by \textit{E. Fried} and \textit{M. E. Gurtin} [Physica D 68, No. 3--4, 326--343 (1993; Zbl 0793.35049)], \textit{M. E. Gurtin} [Physica D 92, No. 3--4, 178--192 (1996; Zbl 0885.35121)] and \textit{P. Podio-Guidugli} [Ric. Mat. 55, No. 1, 105--118 (2006; Zbl 1150.74091]. There are two unknowns in the problem: the order parameter \(\rho\) and the chemical potential \(\mu\). The system consists of two parabolic partial differential equations, interpreted as balances of micro-forces and micro-energy. As a two parameter regularization each equation includes a viscosity term, of the type \(\epsilon\partial_t\mu\) and \(\delta\partial_t\rho\) with two positive parameters \(\epsilon\) and \(\delta\). The model is complemented by Neumann homogeneous boundary conditions and suitable initial conditions. In [SIAM J. Appl. Math. 71, No. 6, 1849--1870 (2011; Zbl 1331.74011)] the authors verified that for positive \(\epsilon\) and \(\delta\) the problem is well-posed. Furthermore, they studied the long-time behaviour of solutions. This paper studies the asymptotic limit of the system as \(\epsilon\) tends to 0 and the equations become degenerate. The main result is the convergence of solutions for positive parameters to the corresponding solutions for \(\epsilon=0\). Moreover the long-time behaviour for \(\epsilon=0\) is characterized. The key tools in the proofs are compactness and monotonicity arguments.