Asymptotic analysis of a certain class of semilinear parabolic problem with interfacial contact resistance (Q2421423)

In the paper under review, the authors study the asymptotic behavior of the solutions of a time-dependent semilinear problem modeling the heat diffusion in a two-component composite, represented by the \(\epsilon\)-periodic domain \(\Omega_\epsilon\) having the two components \(\Omega_{1\epsilon}\) and \(\Omega_{2\epsilon}\) separated by the interface \(\Gamma_\epsilon\). For \(T>0\) and \(\gamma <1\) they consider the problem \[ \begin{alignedat}{2} &u_{1\epsilon}'-\mathrm{div}(A^\epsilon\nabla u_{1\epsilon})=f(u_{1\epsilon})&\quad &\text{in }\quad \Omega_{1\epsilon}\times (0,T),\\ &u_{2\epsilon}'-\mathrm{div}(A^\epsilon\nabla u_{2\epsilon})=f(u_{2\epsilon})&\quad &\text{in }\quad \Omega_{2\epsilon}\times (0,T),\\ &A^\epsilon \nabla u_{1\epsilon}\cdot \eta_{1\epsilon}=-A^\epsilon \nabla u_{2\epsilon}\cdot \eta_{2\epsilon}&\quad &\text{in }\quad \Gamma^\epsilon \times (0,T),\\ &A^\epsilon \nabla u_{1\epsilon}\cdot \eta_{1\epsilon}=-\epsilon^\gamma h^\epsilon (u_{1\epsilon}-u_{2\epsilon})&\quad &\text{in }\quad \Gamma^\epsilon\times (0,T), \end{alignedat} \] together with Dirichlet condition on the exterior boundary of \(\Omega_\epsilon\) and suitable initial conditions for \(u_{1\epsilon}\) and \(u_{2\epsilon}\). Here above, \(\eta_{i\epsilon}\) is the unitary outward normal to \(\Omega_{i\epsilon}\) (\(i=1,2\)), \[ A^\epsilon\equiv A(\cdot/\epsilon),\qquad h^\epsilon\equiv h(\cdot/\epsilon), \] with \(A\) a periodic matrix valued function and \(h\) a suitable periodic positive function. The authors first prove existence and uniqueness of the weak solution of the problem above. Then, they exploit the periodic unfolding method to derive the homogenization and corrector results for different values of \(\gamma\).