Rigorous numerics for the Cahn-Hilliard equation on the unit square (Q949064)

The Cahn-Hilliard equation was introduced in [\textit{J. W. Cahn, J. E. Hilliard}, Free energy of a nonuniform system. I: Interfacial free energy, J. Chem. Phys. 28, 258--267 (1958)] as a model for the process of phase separation of a binary alloy at a fixed temperature and was studied in detail for the one-dimensional case in contrast to the cases of higher dimensionalities. In this article stationary states are investigated in the two-dimensional case, which are given by the solutions of the nonlinear elliptic boundary value problem \(\Delta u+\lambda f(u)=\lambda c\;\text{in}\; \Omega, \partial_{\nu} u=0 \;\text{on}\; \partial \Omega\), where \(c:=\frac{1}{|\Omega|} \int_{\Omega} f(u) d\Omega, \Omega\) is the unit square. The first part of the article contains the bifurcation results for \(\lambda\leq 60\), which are established by computer-assisted existence proofs for equilibria. The second part combines the existence results for equilibria and knowledge of their Conley indices with the topological machinery of the Conley index theory to provide possible characterizations of the global attractor for nonstationary equation \(u_t=F(u)=-\Delta (\Delta u+\lambda f(\mu+u))\) with \(f(u)=u-u^3\) and the existence of global bifurcations as a function of the parameters \(\lambda\) and \(\mu\). The reviewed article serves as the foundation for the work [\textit{S. Maier-Paape, K. Mischaikow, T. Wanner}, Int. J. Bifur. Chaos Appl. Sci. Eng. 17, No. 4, 1221--1263 (2007; Zbl 1148.35008)], which determines the global dynamics of the Cahn-Hilliard equation on the unit square.