\(\Gamma \)-convergence of power-law functionals with variable exponents (Q975246)

The paper is focused on the \(\Gamma\)-convergence of integral functionals of the type \[ I_n(u)= \begin{cases} \int_\Omega \displaystyle \frac{1}{p_n(x)}|\lambda(x) \nabla u(x)|^{p_n(x)}dx &u \in W^{1,p_n(\cdot)}(\Omega)\\ \infty&\text{elsewhere in} \;\;L^1(\Omega) \end{cases} \] and \[ J_n(u)= \begin{cases} \inf\left\{ \mu >0 : \int_\Omega \left| \frac{\lambda(x) \nabla u(x)}{\mu}\right|^{p_n(x)}dx \leq 1 \right\} &u \in W^{1,p_n(\cdot)}(\Omega)\\ \infty&\text{elsewhere in} \;\;L^1(\Omega). \end{cases} \] These functionals arise in connection with the study of composites materials as a generalization of power-law type model of dielectric behavior. In particular \(0<a \leq \lambda(\cdot)\leq b\) represents the non-homogeneity of the material and \(p_n\) are Lipschitz continuous and fulfill \[ \sup p_n \leq C \inf p_n \to \infty. \] A reference for this \(\Gamma\)-convergence issues is Garroni, Nesi, Ponsiglione 2001 where the \(\Gamma\)-limit of \(I_n\) is identified for constant \(p_n\). The main results of the paper are: \[ \begin{aligned} \Gamma-\lim I_n &={\begin{cases} 0 \quad &\text{if} \;\;|\lambda \nabla u|\leq 1 \;\;\text{a.e.}\\ \infty&\text{elsewhere in} \;\;L^1(\Omega) \end{cases}}\\ \Gamma-\lim J_n &={\begin{cases} \| \lambda \nabla u\|_{L^\infty} \quad &u \in W^{1,\infty}(\Omega)\\ \infty&\text{elsewhere in} \;\;L^1(\Omega). \end{cases}}\end{aligned} \]