Asymptotic limits and optimal control for the Cahn-Hilliard system with convection and dynamic boundary conditions (Q1629784)

The interesting paper under review deals with initial-boundary value problems for the nonviscous case of Cahn-Hilliard system with convection and nonconvex potential, where dynamic boundary conditions are assumed for both the associated order parameter and the corresponding chemical potential. Precisely, the authors consider the system \[ \partial_t\rho+\nabla\rho\cdot u-\Delta\mu=0,\quad -\Delta\rho+f'(\rho)=\mu\qquad \text{in}\;Q_T=\Omega\times (0,T), \] coupled with the boundary conditions \[ \partial_t\rho_\Gamma+\partial_\nu\mu-\Delta_\Gamma\mu_\Gamma=0,\quad \partial_\nu\rho-\Delta_\Gamma\rho_\Gamma+f'(\rho_\Gamma)=\mu_\Gamma\qquad \text{on}\;\Sigma_T=\Gamma\times(0,T). \] Here the unknowns \(\rho\) and \(\mu\) represent the order parameter and the chemical potential, respectively, in a phase separation process taking place in an incompressible fluid contained in a container \(\Omega\subset\mathbb{R}^3,\) \(u\) is the given fluid velocity, that is assumed to satisfy \(\text{div}\, u = 0\) in the bulk and \(u\cdot\nu=0\) on the boundary, with \(\nu\) being the outward unit normal to the boundary \(\Gamma=\partial\Omega,\) \(f'\) is the derivative of a double-well potential \(f,\) \(\rho_\Gamma\) and \(\mu_\Gamma\) are the traces on \(\Sigma_T\) of \(\rho\) and \(\mu\) respectively, \(\partial_\nu\) and \(\Delta_\Gamma\) stand for the outward normal derivative and the Laplace-Beltrami operator on \(\Gamma,\) and \(f'_\Gamma\) is the derivative of another potential \(f_\Gamma.\) In first part of the paper the authors study the asymptotic behavior of the solutions as the time variable approaches infinity. It is shown that the \(\omega\)-limit of any trajectory can be characterized in terms of stationary solutions, provided the initial data are sufficiently smooth. The second part addresses optimal control of the system by the fluid velocity, presenting results about existence and first-order necessary optimality conditions. The approach adopted starts from the known results about the viscous case and the authors derive strong estimates which turn out to be uniform with respect to the positive viscosity parameter. After that, the desired nonviscous results are obtained by letting the viscosity tend to zero.