Well-posedness of mathematical models of continuum mechanics and thermodynamics (Q2487411)

This long survey paper consists of seven chapters that tackle various continuum thermodynamical subjects ranging from the maximum entropy method in nonequilibrium thermodynamics to phase field methods. In each case the well-posedness and the stability of the set of partial differential equations are investigated. In the first chapter the maximum of entropy and the Hermite-Grad methods are compared to solve the closure problem of statistical thermodynamics and mechanics. Such closures, based on moment models, rest on the assumption that at least for sufficiently small deviations from an equilibrium state, they exist globally and are close to the solutions of Fokker-Planck equation. The second chapter deals with the stability of the solutions in linearized moment systems. So-called ``pencils of hyperbolic polynomials'' are exhibited for the 13, 14 and 20-moment Grad-Hermite system (1D). The Hadamard well-posedness conditions are derived for hyperbolic systems of nonequilibrium thermodynamics in chapter 4. In the last 2 chapters, the author considers the phenomenological approach to the construction of continuum mechanics models describing processes of separation of two-phase mixtures, according to the Cahn-Hilliard theory, on the one hand, and slow crystallization or phase transition, so-called phase field models, on the other hand. Original results are obtained for the nucleation problem in an isotropic medium (origination of a drop). In particular, it is shown that, when the spinodal is approached, all similarities of the Cahn-Hilliard model with classical nucleation theory disappear. The mathematical model of separation in the two-component lead-tin alloy is studied then as a singular limit for the extended Cahn-Hilliard equations. The survey ends with the analysis of well-posedness and weak solutions of a phase field system.