Analysis of the heteroclinic connection in a singularly perturbed system arising from the study of crystalline grain boundaries (Q851446)

Summary: Mathematically, the problem considered here is that of heteroclinic connections for a system of two second order differential equations of Hamiltonian type, in which a small parameter \(\varepsilon\) conveys a singular perturbation. The motivation comes from a multi-order-parameter phase field model developed by \textit{R. J. Braun, J. W. Cahn, G. B. McFadden} and A. A. Wheeler [Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond., Ser. A 355, No. 1730, 1787--1833 (1997; Zbl 1067.74513)] and \textit{G. B. Tanoglu} [Ph.D. Thesis, Univ. of Delaware, Dept. Appl. Math. (2000)] for the description of crystalline interphase boundaries. In this, the smallness of \(\varepsilon\) is related to large anisotropy. The existence of such a heteroclinic, and its dependence on \(\varepsilon\), is proved. In addition, its robustness is investigated by establishing its spectral stability.