Phase field models for two-dimensional branched transportation problems (Q2274392)

The author presents a comprehensive analysis of the following inverse problem of the calculus of variations. Given a continuous, nondecreasing, concave function \(\tau:[0,\infty)\to[0,\infty)\) with \(\tau(0)=0\), find a function \(c:[0,\infty)\to[0,\infty)\) such that \[ \tau(w)=\inf\bigg\{ F^c[\psi]\,\Big|\,\int_\mathbb{R}\psi(y)\,\mathrm{d}y=w\bigg\} \quad\text{for all }w\geq 0, \] where \[ F^c[\psi]:=\int_\mathbb{R}\bigg(\frac{1}{2}\,|\psi'(y)|^2+c(|\psi(y)|)\bigg)\,\mathrm{d}y. \] The main results include: the existence (yet not necessarily uniqueness) of a solution to this problem; admissibility of the transport cost \(\tau\); transformation of the given problem into an (almost) equivalent linear deconvolution problem; and a specific analysis of the cases when \(\tau\) is piecewise affine and when \(\tau\) is \(\alpha\)-homogeneous with \(\alpha\in(0,1)\), in which cases explicit formulae for the solution \(c\) are given.