Curvature theory of boundary phases: The two-dimensional case (Q1859326)

The paper is concerned with the study of some curvature perturbed two-dimensional minimization problems related to the equilibrium of elastic crystals of the type \[ \min\bigg\{\int_{\partial E}(\psi(\nu_E)+\varepsilon^2\kappa^2)d{\mathcal H}^1 : E_0\subseteq E\bigg\}, \] where the minimum is computed among all sets \(E\subseteq{\mathbb R}^2\) with \(C^2\) boundary containing a fixed open set \(E_0\), and \(\kappa(x)\) denotes the curvature of \(\partial E\) at \(x\). Here, \(\psi\) is just a Borel function, and \(\nu_E\) denotes the tangent unit vector to \(\partial E\). After some rescalings and translations, the above problem reduces to \[ \min\bigg\{\int_{\partial E}\bigg({\varphi(\nu_E)\over\varepsilon}+\varepsilon\kappa^2\bigg)d{\mathcal H}^1 : E_0\subseteq E\bigg\}, \] where \(\varphi\colon S^1\to[0,+\infty[\) is Borel, and vanishes on some directions. Then, the functional \[ F_\varepsilon(E)=\begin{cases}\int_{\partial E}({\varphi(\nu_E)\over\varepsilon}+\varepsilon\kappa^2)d{\mathcal H}^1 & \text{ if } E \text{ is of class } C^2\cr +\infty &\text{ otherwise }\end{cases} \] is introduced, and its limit energy \(G\) is computed by using the techniques of \(\Gamma\)-convergence with respect to both the \(L^1\) and \(L^1_{\text{ loc}}\) convergence of the characteristic functions of the sets \(E\). The simplest case when \(\varphi\) is symmetric with respect to both axes, and the vanishing directions coincide with the coordinate directions, is examined. In this case, the domain of \(G\) turns out to be the set of the coordinate polyrectangles, and \(G(E)=c\sharp(V(E))\), where \(V(E)\) is the set of the vertices of the polyrectangle \(E\), \(c=2\int_S\sqrt{\varphi(s)}d{\mathcal H}^1(s)\), and \(S\) is the minimal arc in the unit circle connecting \((1,0)\) and \((0,1)\). The general non symmetric case is also treated, leading to a more complicated form of the limit energy \(G\). The results obtained are applied to other minimum problems, and some examples are discussed.