A volume constrained variational problem with lower-order terms (Q1404796)

The paper is concerned with the volume constrained one-dimensional minimization problem for \[ E(u)=\int_a^b\left\{{1\over 2}| u'(x)| ^2+\theta(u(x))\right\}\,dx \] where \(u\in H^1(]a,b[)\) satisfies \(| \{x\in]a,b[ : u(x)=0\}| =\alpha\) and \(| \{x\in]a,b[ : u(x)=1\}| =\beta\), with \(\alpha+\beta<b-a\). It is proved that a surprisingly delicate interplay occurs between the existence of solutions of the above problem and the structure and regularity of the function \(\theta\) governing the lower order term. Sufficient sharp conditions on the regularity and the structure of \(\theta\) for the existence and the uniqueness of solutions are furnished. A characterization of local minimizers of the above problem and a precise description of the energy landscape is also given. The asymptotic behaviour of \(E\) is studied as \(\alpha\) and \(\beta\) tend to saturate the whole domain. For general energies of the type \(E(u)=\int_a^b f(u(x),u'(x))\,dx\), it is proved that the limit configuration is determined by the minimal interface criterion.