Motion of nonadmissible convex polygons by crystalline curvature (Q2467698)

An evolution of a closed plane convexe polygon \(P(t)\) governed by the crystalline motion equation is analyzed, see \textit{S. Angenent} and \textit{M. E. Gurtin} [Arch. Ration. Mech. Anal. 108, No. 4, 323--391 (1989; Zbl 0723.73017)], \textit{J. E. Taylor} [Differential geometry. A symposium in honour of Manfredo do Carmo, Proc. Int. Conf., Rio de Janeiro/Bras. 1988, Pitman Monogr. Surv. Pure Appl. Math. 52, 321--336 (1991; Zbl 0725.53011)], \textit{S. B. Angenent} and \textit{M. E. Gurtin} [J. Reine Angew. Math. 446, 1--47 (1994; Zbl 0784.35124)], \textit{M. E. Gurtin} [Thermomechanics of evolving phase boundaries in the plane. Oxford Mathematical Monographs. Oxford: Clarendon Press (1993; Zbl 0787.73004)], \textit{J. E. Taylor} [Differential geometry. Part 1: Partial differential equations on manifolds. Proceedings of a summer research institute, held at the University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA, July 8--28, 1990. Providence, RI: American Mathematical Society. Proc. Symp. Pure Math. 54, Part 1, 417--438 (1993; Zbl 0823.49028)], \textit{F. Almgren} and \textit{J. E. Taylor} [J. Differ. Geom. 42, No. 1, 1--22 (1995; Zbl 0867.58020)]. It is known that if \(P(0)\) is an admissible polygon, i.e., the set of its normal angles equals that of the Wulff shape, than \(P(t)\) evolves, while its admissibility is preserved, and eventually it shrinks to a single point or collapses to a line segment in a finite time [cf. \textit{B. Andrews}, Asian J. Math. 6, No. 1, 101--121 (2002; Zbl 1025.53038), \textit{M.-H. Giga} and \textit{Y. Giga}, Proceedings of the international conference on free boundary problems: theory and applications, Chiba, Japan, November 7--13, 1999. I. Tokyo: Gakkotosho. GAKUTO Int. Ser., Math. Sci. Appl. 13, 64--79 (2000; Zbl 0957.35122)], \textit{T. Ishiwata} and \textit{S. Yazaki} [J. Comput. Appl. Math. 159, No. 1, 55--64 (2003; Zbl 1033.65055)]. The author discusses the case of a nonadmissible initial data \(P(0)\) and proves that either \(P(t)\) shrinks to a point in a finite time, or some edges disappearing occurs at most finitely many times so that \(P(t)\) becomes admissible. As corollary, if \(P(0)\) is not admissible than \(P(t)\) does not collapse to a line segment without becoming an admissible polygon. The discussion is illustrated by five typical examples.