Vortex dynamics in the presence of excess energy for the Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert equation (Q2445453)

Let \(\Omega\) be a domain in \(\mathbb R^3\). The present paper deals with the magnetization of a thin ferromagnetic film represented by \(\Omega\) (cf. the authors' paper [Arch. Ration. Mech. Anal. 199, No. 3, 843--888 (2011; Zbl 1229.35283)]). The magnetization is modeled by an equation of the form \[ (1) \qquad\frac{\partial \mathbf m}{\partial t}=\mathbf m\times\bigg(\alpha_{\epsilon}\frac{\partial\mathbf m}{\partial t}-f_{\epsilon}(\mathbf m)\bigg) \] associated with the initial condition \(\mathbf m(0)=\mathbf m^{0}_{\epsilon}\), and Dirichlet or Neumann boundary conditions on the boundary \(\partial\Omega\). Here, \(\mathbf m=(m_1,m_2,m_3):\Omega\to\mathbb S^2\) is the magnetization vector, the symbol \(\times\) denotes the vector product in \(\mathbb R^3\), \[ f_{\epsilon}(\mathbf m)=\Delta \mathbf m+|\nabla\mathbf m|^2\mathbf m-\frac{1}{\epsilon^2}(m_3 \mathbf e_3-m_3^2\mathbf m),\quad e_3=(0,0,1), \] and it is assumed that \(\alpha_{\epsilon} \log\frac{1}{\epsilon}\to \alpha_o\) as \(\epsilon\to 0.\) The authors study the asymptotic behavior of equation (1) as \(\epsilon\to 0\). In the limit, a time-dependent set of vortices, whose centers are denoted by \(a_1(t),\dots,a_N(t)\), are obtained. A number of quantities are associated to \(\mathbf m\), in particular, the energy density \[ e_{\epsilon}(\mathbf m)=\frac{1}{2}|\nabla\mathbf m|^2+\frac{1}{2\epsilon^2}m_3^2, \] the vorticity \[ \omega(\mathbf m)=\biggl\langle\mathbf m,\frac{\partial \mathbf m}{\partial x_1}\times \frac{\partial \mathbf m}{\partial x_2}\biggl\rangle, \] where the bracket stands for the scalar product in \(\mathbb R^3,\) and the planar Jacobian \[ J(\mathbf m)=\frac{\partial m_1}{\partial x_1}\frac{\partial m_2}{\partial x_2}-\frac{\partial m_1}{\partial x_2}\frac{\partial m_2}{\partial x_1}. \] The following assumptions are made on the initial data: There exists \(C_o\) such that \[ \int_{\Omega} e_{\epsilon}(\mathbf m_{\epsilon}^{o})dx\leq\pi N\log\frac{1}{\epsilon}+C_o,\text{ for every }\epsilon\in (0,\frac{1}{2}]. \] There exist \(a^{o}=(a_1^{o},\dots,a_N^{o})\in\Omega^N\), \(d=(d_1,\dots,d_N)\), with \(d_n=\pm1\) and \(q^{o}=(q^{o}_1,\dots,q^{o}_N)\in \big(\frac{1}{2}+\mathbb Z\big)^N\) such that \[ \frac{e_{\epsilon}(\mathbf m_{\epsilon}^{o})}{\log\frac{1}{\epsilon}}\to\pi \sum_{n=1}^{N}\delta_{a_n^{o}}, \quad J(\mathbf m_{\epsilon^{o}})\to\pi \sum_{n=1}^{N}d_n \delta_{a_n^{o}}, \quad \text{ and } \quad \omega(\mathbf m_{\epsilon}^{o})\to 4\pi \sum_{n=1}^{N} q_n^{o}\delta_{a_n^{o}}, \] in the distributional sense, as \(\epsilon\to 0.\) Under these conditions, it is proved that, for every \(\epsilon\in (0,\frac{1}{2}]\), there exists a weak solution \(\mathbf m_{\epsilon}\) of equation (1), with \(\mathbf m_{\epsilon}(0)=\mathbf m_{\epsilon}^{o} \) satisfying the required boundary condition on \(\partial\Omega.\) Moreover, there exist \(T>0,\) a piecewise constant function \(q:(0,T)\to (\frac{1}{2}+\mathbb Z)^N\), and a subsequence \(\epsilon_k\to 0\) such that, for almost every \(t\in(0,T)\), \[ \frac{e_{\epsilon_k}(\mathbf m_{\epsilon_k }(t))}{\log\frac{1}{\epsilon_k}},\quad \omega(\mathbf m_{\epsilon_k}(t)), \quad \text{and }\quad J(\mathbf m_{\epsilon_k }(t)) \] converge to weighed sums of Dirac measures located at the vortex centers \(a_n(t)\), \(n=1, \dots,N\). The motion of the vortices is described by the system of ordinary differential equations \[ 4\pi q_n i\dot{a}_n+\pi\alpha_o\dot{a}_n+\frac{\partial W}{\partial a_n}(a,d)=0, \quad\quad n=1,\dots,N, \] in \((0,T)\) with the initial condition \(a(0)=a^{o},\) where \(W\) is the renormalized energy [\textit{F. Bethuel} et al., Ginzburg-Landau vortices. Boston, MA: Birkhäuser (1994; Zbl 0802.35142)]. The case of the Ginzburg-Landau equations with mixed dynamics is also investigated in Sections 1.2 and 7.