Derivation of Darcy's law in randomly perforated domains (Q2048888)

The author proves a homogenization result for Stokes system and Poisson problem posed in a domain \(D^{\varepsilon}=D\setminus H^\varepsilon\subseteq\mathbb{R}^3\) with randomly distributed perforations \(H^{\varepsilon}\) and Dirichlet boundary conditions on the holes. The set of holes is defined as \(\displaystyle H^\varepsilon=\cup_{z\in\Phi\cap \frac{D}{\varepsilon}} B_{\varepsilon^{\alpha}}\rho_z(\varepsilon z)\) for \(\alpha\in(1,3)\). The set of centers \(z\) of holes is a Poisson point process \(\Phi\) and the radii \(\rho_z\) are independent and identically distributed random variables satisfying the following integrability criteria: \[ \mathbb{E}[\rho^{3/\alpha}]\leq C \] for the Poisson problem and \[ \mathbb{E}[\rho^{3/\alpha+\beta}]\leq C \] for some \(\beta>0\) for the Stokes system. For Poisson problem, this is a minimal condition that ensures that the holes vanish in the limit \(\epsilon\to 0\) while allowing for the possibility of hole overlap. A motivation for the stronger requirement in the case of Stokes system is also given. In the regime under consideration, \(\alpha\in (1,3)\), the limit problem is Darcy's law in the case of Stokes system and the corresponding limit for Poisson problem. The case \(\alpha=3\) corresponds to Brinkman's law for Stokes system and corresponds to the appearance of the strange term in the homogenization of Poisson problem. In the random setting of the present paper, i.e., with minimal assumptions on hole separation, Brinkman's law is proved in [\textit{A. Giunti} and \textit{R. M. Höfer}, Ann. Inst. Henri Poincaré, Anal. Non Linéaire 36, No. 7, 1829--1868 (2019; Zbl 1437.35041)], and its variant for Poisson problem is proved in [\textit{A. Giunti} et al., Commun. Partial Differ. Equations 43, No. 9, 1377--1412 (2018; Zbl 1448.60136)]. The case \(\alpha=1\) also corresponds to a Darcy's law but with a different corrector equation. See [\textit{G. Allaire}, Ann. Sc. Norm. Super. Pisa, Cl. Sci., IV. Ser. 18, No. 4, 475--499 (1991; Zbl 0755.35084)]. The regime \(\alpha\in(1,3)\) appears to have only been studied in the deterministic setting of periodically distributed holes, for example, [\textit{G. Allaire}, Arch. Ration. Mech. Anal. 113, No. 3, 261--298 (1991; Zbl 0724.76021)] . The present paper extends that work to the random setting with minimal assumptions on hole separation. In order to obtain a non-trivial limit, the solutions need to be normalized by a factor of \(\varepsilon^{-3+\alpha}\). Uniform bounds on the normalized solutions are obtained by means of a Poincaré inequality for functions that vanish on the holes. The constant in Poincaré inequality is of order \(\varepsilon^{\frac{3-\alpha}{2}}\). The author brings to bear the techniques developed in their previous papers for handling the possibility of hole overlap.