Geometric motion for a degenerate Allen-Cahn/Cahn-Hilliard system: the partial wetting case (Q2572313)

Using formal asymptotics the authors show that in a low temperature coarsening limit, a degenerate Allen-Cahn/Cahn-Hilliard system yields a geometric problem in which small particles whose shape evolves according to surface diffusion move along surface where the chemical potential is quasi-static, which itself moves by motion by mean curvature. The limiting problem can be viewed as a diffuse interphase approximation for various problems in materials science in which surface diffusion and motion by mean curvature are coupled. This paper extends previous results by \textit{J. W. Cahn} and \textit{A. Novick-Cohen} [J. Stat. Phys. 76, 877--909 (1994; Zbl 0840.35110)] to the partial wetting case in three dimensions. The paper assumes existence and regularity of solutions of the approximating and the limiting problem, as well as a few qualitative properties for the validity of the model.