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The aim of this paper is to deal with the asymptotics of generalized Orlicz norms when the lower growth rate tends to infinity. $\Gamma$-convergence results and related representation theorems in terms of $L^\infty$ functionals are proven for sequences of generalized Orlicz energies under mild convexity assumptions. This latter hypothesis is removed in the variable exponent setting.

We establish the Lipschitz regularity of the a priori bounded local minimizers of integral functionals with non autonomous energy densities satisfying non standard growth conditions under a sharp bound on the gap between the growth and the ellipticity exponent.

We propose a homogenized supremal functional rigorously derived via $L^p$-approximation by functionals of the type $\underset{x\in\Omega}{\mbox{ess-sup}}\hspace{0.03cm} f\left(\frac{x}{\varepsilon}, Du\right)$, when $\Omega$ is a bounded open set of $\mathbb R^n$ and $u\in W^{1,\infty}(\Omega;\mathbb R^d)$. The homogenized functional is also deduced directly in the case where the sublevel sets of $f(x,\cdot)$ satisfy suitable convexity properties, as a corollary of homogenization results dealing with pointwise gradient constrained integral functionals.

We consider integral functionals with slow growth and explicit dependence on u of the lagrangian; this includes many relevant examples, as, for instance, in elastoplastic torsion problems or in image restoration problems. Our aim is to prove that the local minimizers are locally Lipschitz continuous. The proof makes use of recent results concerning the Bounded Slope Conditions.

$3d-2d$ dimensional reduction for hyperelastic thin films modeled through energies with point dependent growth, assuming that the sample is clamped on the lateral boundary, is performed in the framework of $\Gamma$-convergence. Integral representation results, with a more regular lagrangian related to the original energy density, are provided for the lower dimensional limiting energy, in different contexts.

Motivated by the image denoising problem and the undesirable stair-casing effect of the total variation method, we introduce bounded variation spaces with generalized Orlicz growth. Our setup covers earlier variable exponent and double phase models. We study the norm and modular of the new space and derive a formula for the modular in terms of the Lebesgue decomposition of the derivative measure and a location dependent recession function. We also show that the modular can be obtained as the $\Gamma$-limit of uniformly convex approximating energies.

In this paper we prove the Lipschitz regularity for local minimizers of convex variational integrals of the form \[ \mathfrak{F}( v, \Omega )= \int_{\Omega} \! F(x, Dv(x)) \, dx, \] where, for ${n > 2}$ and $N\ge 1$, $\Omega$ is a bounded open set in $\mathbb{R}^n$, $u \in W^{1,1}(\Omega , \mathbb{R}^N)$ and the energy density $F:\Omega\times \mathbb{R}^{N \times n}\to \mathbb{R}$ satisfies the so called variable growth conditions. The main novelty of the paper is that we assume an almost critical regularity in the Orlicz Sobolev setting for the energy density as a function of the $x$ variable.

A way to measure the lower growth rate of $\varphi:\Omega\times [0,\infty) \to [0,\infty)$ is to require $t \mapsto \varphi(x,t)t^{-r}$ to be increasing in $(0,\infty)$. If this condition holds with $r=1$, then \[ \inf_{u\in f+W^{1, \varphi}_0(\Omega)}\int_\Omega \varphi(x, |\nabla u|) \, dx \] with boundary values $f\in W^{1,\varphi}(\Omega)$ does not necessary have a minimizer. However, if $\varphi$ is replaced by $\varphi^p$, then the growth condition holds with $r=p > 1$ and thus (under some additional conditions) the corresponding energy integral has a minimizer. We show that a sequence $(u_p)$ of such minimizers convergences when $p \to 1^+$ in a suitable $\mathrm{BV}$-type space involving generalized Orlicz growth and obtain the $\Gamma$-convergence of functionals with fixed boundary values and of functionals with fidelity terms. %We complement our results by showing that some previous papers by some of the authors are included in our analysis.

We consider some energy integrals under slow growth and we prove that the local minimizers are locally Lipschitz continuous. Many examples are given, either with subquadratic $p,q-$growth and/or anisotropic growth.

Different types of graphene-related materials (GRM) are industrially available and have been exploited for thermal conductivity enhancement in polymers. These include materials with very different features, in terms of thickness, lateral size and composition, especially concerning the oxygen to carbon ratio and the possible presence of surface functionalization. Due to the variability of GRM properties, the differences in polymer nanocomposites preparation methods and the microstructures obtained, a large scatter of thermal conductivity performance is found in literature. However, detailed correlations between GRM-based nanocomposites features, including nanoplatelets thickness and size, defectiveness, composition and dispersion, with their thermal conductivity remain mostly undefined. In the present paper, the thermal conductivity of GRM-based polymer nanocomposites, prepared by melt polymerization of cyclic polybutylene terephtalate oligomers, exploiting 13 different GRM grades, was investigated. The selected GRM, covering a wide range of specific surface area, size and defectiveness, secure a sound basis for the understanding of the effect of GRM properties on the thermal conductivity of their relevant polymer nanocomposites. Indeed, the thermal conductivity obtained appeared to depend on the interplay between the above GRM feature. In particular, the combination of low GRM defectiveness and high filler percolation density was found to maximize the nanocomposites thermal conductivity.

The aim of the paper is to show that the solutions to variational problems with non-standard growth conditions satisfy a corresponding variational inequality without any smallness assumptions on the gap between growth and coercitivity exponents. Our results rely on techniques based on Convex Analysis that consist in establishing duality formulas and pointwise relations between minimizers and corresponding dual maximizers, for suitable approximating problems, that are preserved passing to the limit. In this respect we are able to show that the right class of competitors are the functions with finite energy, in agreement with the unconstrained results.

We study the asymptotic behavior of a family of functionals which penalize a short-range interaction of convolution type between a finite perimeter set and its complement. We first compute the pointwise limit and we obtain a lower estimate on more regulars sets. Finally, some examples are discussed.

In a recent paper [5] a smooth function f : [0; 1] --> R with all derivatives vanishing at 0 has been considered and a global condition, showing that f is indeed identically 0, has been presented. The purpose of this note is to replace the classical Fundamental Theorem of Calculus for the Riemann integral, as it has been used in [5], with a weaker form going back to Volterra [7], which is little known. Therefore the proof we propose in this paper turns to be important also from the teaching point of view, as long as in literature there are very few examples in which explicitly the lower integral and the upper integral of a function appear (usually the assumption that the function is Riemann-integrable is required).

We study the $\Gamma$-convergence of the functionals $F_n(u):= || f(\cdot,u(\cdot),Du(\cdot))||_{p_n(\cdot)}$ and $\mathcal{F}_n(u):= \int_{\Omega} \frac{1}{p_n(x)} f^{p_n(x)}(x,u(x),Du(x))dx$ defined on $X\in \{L^1(\Omega,\mathbb{R}^d), L^\infty(\Omega,\mathbb{R}^d), C(\Omega,\mathbb{R}^d)\}$ (endowed with their usual norms) with effective domain the Sobolev space $W^{1,p_n(\cdot)}(\Omega, \mathbb{R}^d )$. Here $\Omega\subseteq \mathbb{R}^N$ is a bounded open set, $N,d \ge 1$ and the measurable functions $p_n: \overline{\Omega} \rightarrow (1, + \infty) $ satisfy the conditions ${\mathop{\rm ess\: sup }}_{\ \overline \Omega} p_n \le \, \beta \, {\mathop{\rm ess\: inf }}_{\ \overline \Omega} p_n $ for a fixed constant $\beta > 1$ and $ {\mathop{\rm ess\: inf }}_{\ \overline \Omega} p_n \rightarrow + \infty$ as $n \rightarrow + \infty$. We show that when $f(x,u,\cdot)$ is level convex and lower semicontinuous and it satisfies a uniform growth condition from below, then, as $n\to \infty$, the sequences $(F_n)_n$ $\Gamma$-converges in $X$ to the functional $F$ represented as $F(u)= || f(\cdot,u(\cdot),Du(\cdot))||_{\infty}$ on the effective domain $W^{1,\infty}(\Omega, \mathbb{R}^d )$. Moreover we show that the $\Gamma$-$\lim_n \mathcal F_n$ is given by the functional $ \mathcal{F}(u):=\left\{\begin {array}{lll} \!\!\!\!\!\! & 0 & \hbox{if } || f(\cdot,u(\cdot),Du(\cdot)) ||_{\infty}\leq 1,\\ \!\!\!\!\!\! & +\infty & \hbox{otherwise in } X.\\ \end{array}\right. $

The control of nanostructuration of graphene and graphene related materials (GRM) into self-assembled structures is strictly related to the nanoflakes chemical functionalization, which may be obtained via covalent grafting of non-covalent interactions, mostly exploiting {\pi}-stacking. As the non-covalent functionalization does not affect the sp2 carbon structure, this is often exploited to preserve the thermal and electrical properties of the GRM and it is a well-known route to tailor the interaction between GRM and organic media. In this work, non-covalent functionalization of graphite nanoplatelets (GnP) was carried out with ad-hoc synthesized pyrene-terminated oligomers of polylactic acid (PLA), aiming at the modification of GnP nanopapers thermal properties. PLA was selected based on the possibility to self-assemble in crystalline domains via stereocomplexation of complementary poly(L-lactide) (PLLA) and poly(D-lactide) (PDLA) enantiomers. Pyrene-initiated PLLA and PDLA were indeed demonstrated to anchor to the GnP surface. Calorimetric and X-ray diffraction investigations highlighted the enantiomeric PLAs adsorbed on the surface of the nanoplatelets self-organize to produce highly crystalline stereocomplex domains. Most importantly, PLLA/PDLA stereocomplexation delivered a significantly higher efficiency in nanopapers heat transfer, in particular through the thickness of the nanopaper. This is explained by a thermal bridging effect of crystalline domains between overlapped GnP, promoting heat transfer across the nanoparticles contacts. This work demonstrates the possibility to enhance the physical properties of contacts within a percolating network of GRM via the self-assembly of macromolecules and opens a new way for the engineering of GRM-based nanostructures.

In this paper we prove the local boundedness as well as the local Lipschitz continuity for solutions to a class of obstacle problems of the type $$\min\left\{\int_\Omega {F(x, Dz)}: z\in \mathcal{K}_{\psi}(\Omega)\right\}.$$ Here $\mathcal{K}_{\psi}(\Omega)$ is set of admissible functions $z \in W^{1,p}(\Omega)$ such that $z \ge \psi$ a.e. in $\Omega$, $\psi$ being the obstacle and $\Omega$ being an open bounded set of $\mathbb{R}^n$, $n \ge 2$. The main novelty here is that we are assuming $ F(x, Dz)$ satisfying $(p,q)$-growth conditions {and less restrictive assumptions on the obstacle with respect to the existing regularity results}.

In this note we give a proof of the Sobolev and Morrey embedding theorems based on the representation of functions in terms of the fundamental solution of suitable partial differential operators. We also prove the compactness of the Sobolev embedding. We first describe this method in the classical setting, where the fundamental solution of the Laplace equation is used, to recover the classical Sobolev and Morrey theorems. We next consider degenerate Kolmogorov equations. In this case, the fundamental solution is invariant with respect to a non-Euclidean translation group and the usual convolution is replaced by an operation that is defined in accordance with this geometry. We recover some known embedding results and we prove the compactness of the Sobolev embedding. We finally apply our regularity results to a kinetic equation., Comment: Conference Proceedings of the 2017 Indam meeting in Cortona "Harnack's inequalities and nonlinear operators" in honour of Emmanuele DiBenedetto. 27 pages

We consider weak solutions of degenerate second order partial differential equations of Kolmogorov-Fokker-Planck type with measurable coefficients in divergence form. We give a geometric statement of the Harnack inequality recently proven by Golse, Imbert, Mouhot and Vasseur. As a corollary we obtain a strong maximum principle., Comment: 16 pages, 3 figures

We consider a thermodynamically consistent model for the evolution of thermally conducting two-phase incompressible fluids. Complementing previous results, we prove additional regularity properties of solutions in the case when the evolution takes place in the two-dimensional flat torus with periodic boundary conditions. Thanks to improved regularity, we can also prove uniqueness and characterize the long-time behavior of trajectories showing existence of the global attractor in a suitable phase-space.

We consider a thermodynamically consistent diffuse interface model describing two-phase flows of incompressible fluids in a non-isothermal setting. This model was recently introduced in a previous paper of ours, where we proved existence of weak solutions in three space dimensions. Here, we aim at studying the mathematical properties of the model in the two-dimensional case. In particular, we can show existence of global in time strong solutions. Moreover, we can admit slightly more general conditions on some material coefficients of the system.

We introduce a diffuse interface model describing the evolution of a mixture of two different viscous incompressible fluids of equal density. The main novelty of the present contribution consists in the fact that the effects of temperature on the flow are taken into account. In the mathematical model, the evolution of the macroscopic velocity is ruled by the Navier-Stokes system with temperature-dependent viscosity, while the order parameter representing the concentration of one of the components of the fluid is assumed to satisfy a convective Cahn-Hilliard equation. The effects of the temperature are prescribed by a suitable form of the heat equation. However, due to quadratic forcing terms, this equation is replaced, in the weak formulation, by an equality representing energy conservation complemented with a differential inequality describing production of entropy. The main advantage of introducing this notion of solution is that, while the thermodynamical consistency is preserved, at the same time the energy-entropy formulation is more tractable mathematically. Indeed, global-in-time existence for the initial-boundary value problem associated to the weak formulation of the model is proved by deriving suitable a-priori estimates and showing weak sequential stability of families of approximating solutions., Comment: 26 pages

We pursue the study of fatigue accumulation in an oscillating elastoplastic beam under the additional hypothesis that the material can partially recover by the effect of melting. The full system consists of the momentum and energy balance equations, an evolution equation for the fatigue rate, and a differential inclusion for the phase dynamics. The main result consists in proving the existence and uniqueness of a strong solution.

In this paper we propose a new strategy for gravitational waves detection from coalescing binaries, using IIR Adaptive Line Enhancer (ALE) filters. This strategy is a classical hierarchical strategy in which the ALE filters have the role of triggers, used to select data chunks which may contain gravitational events, to be further analyzed with more refined optimal techniques, like the the classical Matched Filter Technique. After a direct comparison of the performances of ALE filters with the Wiener-Komolgoroff optimum filters (matched filters), necessary to discuss their performance and to evaluate the statistical limitation in their use as triggers, we performed a series of tests, demonstrating that these filters are quite promising both for the relatively small computational power needed and for the robustness of the algorithms used. The performed tests have shown a weak point of ALE filters, that we fixed by introducing a further strategy, based on a dynamic bank of ALE filters, running simultaneously, but started after fixed delay times. The results of this global trigger strategy seems to be very promising, and can be already used in the present interferometers, since it has the great advantage of requiring a quite small computational power and can easily run in real-time, in parallel with other data analysis algorithms., Comment: Accepted at SPIE: "Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation". 9 pages, 3 figures

In this paper a Neural Network based approach is presented to identify the noise in the VIRGO context. VIRGO is an experiment to detect Gravitational Waves by means of a Laser Interferometer. Preliminary results appear to be very promising for data analysis of realistic Interferometer outputs., Comment: 13 pages, wicsbook.sty macro file, accepted for publication in the proceedings of the 11th Italian Workshop on Neural Networks, WIRN Vietri 99, M. Marinaro and R. Tagliaferri eds., Springer-Verlag 1999