Directional differentiability for elliptic quasi-variational inequalities of obstacle type (Q1728205)

This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of quasi-variational inequalities (QVI) arising in obstacle-type problems. QVI are generalized variational inequalities, where the constraint set is dependent on the state variable rather than being independent of it as in a variational inequality. Such QVI arise in the context of fluid flows in domains with boundaries in the form of a membrane. In the case of pressure on the membrane below a threshold level, flow inside the domain takes place. When the pressure exceeds a threshold level, flow stops. This pressure can be thought of as a constraint that increases when there is an increased flow and decreases with decrease in flow. Thus, the constraint set depends on the flow, which is the state variable. This gives rise to a QVI. The authors study the sensitivity and the differentiability properties of the solution map of a QVI, involving partial derivative operators, with respect to forcing terms in infinite-dimensional spaces. This is crucial in understanding the behavior of the solutions of QVI and also helps in determining the regularity of such solutions. The analysis uses differentiability properties of a sequence of variational inequalities that approximate the QVI. Numerical experiments demonstrate the validity of the obtained theoretical results and, in future, the authors plan to solve optimal control problems of QVI using the proposed framework.