On the problem of two linearized wells (Q1913321)

This paper is concerned with the problem of determining the conditions under which minimizing sequences of functionals of the type \[ \int_\Omega W(Dy(x))dx \] are oscillatory in nature. Here \(\Omega\) denotes a bounded domain in \(\mathbb{R}^n\), \(Dy\) is the gradient of a mapping \(y:\Omega\to\mathbb{R}^n\), and \(W\) is a function with several minima or potential wells. This work is motivated by an application to magnetostriction, and the authors consider the case of two linearized wells, for which the set \(K\) of minima of the integrand \(W\) takes the form \[ K=(A+\text{Skew})\cup(B+ \text{Skew})\tag{1} \] for symmetric \(n\times n\) matrices \(A\) and \(B\), with \(B\neq A\), with Skew denoting the set of skew-symmetric \(n\times n\) matrices. A key concept in this investigation is that of an incompatible set of minima: \(K\) is said to be incompatible if \[ \text{rank}(X- Y)\geq 2\quad\text{for every }X,Y\in K,\;Y\neq X. \] Then the main result of this work is a theorem which states that for \(K\) defined as in (1) and incompatible, and for \(p>2\), every \(W^{1,p}\)-gradient Young measure supported on \(K\) is a Dirac mass, a.e., and is independent of position. Thus oscillations are absent, and all functions whose gradient take values in \(K\) are necessarily affine. It has been shown previously in \textit{K. Bhattacharya}, \textit{N. B. Firoozye}, \textit{R. D. James} and \textit{R. V. Kohn} [Proc. R. Soc. Edinb., Ser. A 124, No. 5, 843-878 (1994; Zbl 0808.73063)] that, in \(\mathbb{R}^3\), this result breaks down for three or more linearized wells, so that the number of wells is optimal. The bulk of the paper is taken up with the proof of the theorem stated previously. The proof is in turn broken up into a number of lemmas. The paper concludes with a discussion of the application of the main result to the problem of magnetostriction, which is concerned with the elastic response of a ferromagnetic body in the presence of an external magnetic field.