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The aim of this paper is to investigate the minimization problem related to a Ginzburg-Landau energy functional, where in particular a nonlinear diffusion of mean curvature-type is considered, together with a classical double well potential. A careful analysis of the corresponding Euler-Lagrange equation, equipped with natural boundary conditions and mass constraint, leads to the existence of an unique Maxwell solution, namely a monotone increasing solution obtained for small diffusion and close to the so-called Maxwell point. Then, it is shown that this particular solution (and its reversal) has least energy among all the stationary points satisfying the given mass constraint. Moreover, as the viscosity parameter tends to zero, it converges to the increasing (decreasing for the reversal) single interface solution, namely the constrained minimizer of the corresponding energy without diffusion. Connections with Cahn-Hilliard models, obtained in terms of variational derivatives of the total free energy considered here, are also presented., Comment: 32 pages, 3 figures

In this paper, we analyse propagating fronts in the context of hyperbolic theories of dissipative processes. These can be considered as a natural alternative to the more classical parabolic models. Emphasis is given toward the numerical computation of the invasion velocity., Comment: 30 pages, 5 figures, 4 tables

In this paper we analyze the high friction regime for the Navier Stokes Korteweg equations for multicomponent systems. According to the shape of the mixing and friction terms, we shall perform two limits: the high friction limit toward an equilibrium system for the limit densities and the barycentric velocity, and, after an appropriate time scaling, the diffusive relaxation toward parabolic, gradient flow equations for the limit densities. The rigorous justification of these limits is done by means of relative entropy techniques in the framework of weak, finite energy solutions of the relaxation models, rewritten in the enlarged formulation in terms of the drift velocity, toward smooth solutions of the corresponding equilibrium dynamics. Finally, since our estimates are uniform for small viscosity, the results are also valid for the Euler Korteweg multicomponent models, and the corresponding estimates can be obtained by sending the viscosity to zero.

In this paper we investigate spectral stability of traveling wave solutions to 1-$D$ quantum hydrodynamics system with nonlinear viscosity in the $(\rho,u)$, that is, density and velocity, variables. We derive a sufficient condition for the stability of the essential spectrum and we estimate the maximum modulus of eigenvalues with non-negative real part. In addition, we present numerical computations of the Evans function in sufficiently large domain of the unstable half-plane and show numerically that its winding number is (approximately) zero, thus giving a numerical evidence of point spectrum stability.

Motivated by radiation hydrodynamics, we analyse a 2x2 system consisting of a one-dimensional viscous conservation law with strictly convex flux -- the viscous Burgers' equation being a paradigmatic example -- coupled with an elliptic equation, named viscous Hamer-type system. In the regime of small viscosity and for large shocks, namely when the profile of the corresponding underlying inviscid model undergoes a discontinuity -- usually called sub-shock -- it is proved the existence of a smooth propagating front, regularising the jump of the corresponding inviscid equation. The proof is based on Geometric Singular Perturbation Theory (GSPT) as introduced in the pioneering work of Fenichel [5] and subsequently developed by Szmolyan [19]. In addition, the case of small shocks and large viscosity is also addressed via a standard bifurcation argument.

We consider nonlinear viscoelastic materials of Kelvin-Voigt type with stored energies satisfying an Andrews-Ball condition, allowing for non convexity in a compact set. Existence of weak solutions with deformation gradients in $H^1$ is established for energies of any superquadratic growth. In two space dimensions, weak solutions notably turn out to be unique in this class. Conservation of energy for weak solutions in two and three dimensions, as well as global regularity for smooth initial data in two dimensions are established under additional mild restrictions on the growth of the stored energy., Comment: 30 pages

The relaxation-time limit from the Quantum-Navier-Stokes-Poisson system to the quantum drift-diffusion equation is performed in the framework of finite energy weak solutions. No assumptions on the limiting solution are made. The proof exploits the suitably scaled a priori bounds inferred by the energy and BD entropy estimates. Moreover, it is shown how from those estimates the Fisher entropy and free energy estimates associated to the diffusive evolution are recovered in the limit. As a byproduct, our main result also provides an alternative proof for the existence of finite energy weak solutions to the quantum drift-diffusion equation.

The aim of this paper is to investigate the singular relaxation limits for the Euler-Korteweg and the Navier-Stokes-Korteweg system in the high friction regime. We shall prove that the viscosity term is present only in higher orders in the proposed scaling and therefore it does not affect the limiting dynamics, and the two models share the same equilibrium equation. The analysis of the limit is carried out using the relative entropy techniques in the framework of weak, finite energy solutions of the relaxation models converging toward smooth solutions of the equilibrium. The results proved here take advantage of the enlarged formulation of the models in terms of the drift velocity introduced in [6], generalizing in this way the ones proved in [15] for the Euler-Korteweg model.

In this paper we study existence of traveling waves for 1-D compressible Euler system with dispersion (which models quantum effects through the Bohm potential) and nonlinear viscosity in the context of quantum hydrodynamic models for superfluidity. The existence of profiles is proved for appropriate (super- or sub- sonic) end states defining Lax shocks for the underlying Euler system formulated in terms of density and velocity without restrictions for the viscosity and dispersion parameters. On the other hand, the interplay of the dispersion and the viscosity plays a crucial role in proving the existence of oscillatory profiles, showing in this way how the dispersion plays a significant role in certain regimes. Numerical experiments are also provided to analyze the sensitivity of such profiles with respect to the viscosity/dispersion terms and with respect to the nearness to vacuum.

In this paper we perform the analysis of spectral properties of the linearized system around constant states and dispersive shock for a 1-D compressible Euler system with dissipation--dispersion terms. The dispersive term is originated by the quantum effects described through the Bohm potential, as customary in Quantum Hydrodynamic models. The analysis performed in this paper includes the computation of the linearized operator and the spectral stability through the Evans function method., Comment: arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1812.10279

In this paper we study existence and stability of shock profiles for a 1-D compressible Euler system in the context of Quantum Hydrodynamic models. The dispersive term is originated by the quantum effects described through the Bohm potential; moreover we introduce a (linear) viscosity to analyze its interplay with the former while proving existence, monotonicity and stability of travelling waves connecting a Lax shock for the underlying Euler system. The existence of monotone profiles is proved for sufficiently small shocks; while the case of large shocks leads to the (global) existence for an oscillatory profile, where dispersion plays a significant role. The spectral analysis of the linearized problem about a profile is also provided. In particular, we derive a sufficient condition for the stability of the essential spectrum and we estimate the maximum modulus of the eigenvalues in the unstable plane, using a careful analysis of the Evans function.

The goal of this paper is to accurately describe the metastable dynamics of the solutions to the hyperbolic relaxation of the Cahn-Hilliard equation in a bounded interval of the real line, subject to homogeneous Neumann boundary conditions. We prove the existence of an "approximately invariant manifold" $\mathcal{M}_0$ for such boundary value problem, that is we construct a narrow channel containing $\mathcal{M}_0$ and satisfying the following property: a solution starting from the channel evolves very slowly and leaves the channel only after an exponentially long time. Moreover, in the channel the solution has a "transition layer structure" and we derive a system of ODEs, which accurately describes the slow dynamics of the layers. A comparison with the layer dynamics of the classic Cahn-Hilliard equation is also performed., Comment: 38 pages, 1 figure

In this paper we propose two numerical algorithms to solve a coupled PDE-ODE system which models a slow vehicle (bottleneck) moving on a road together with other cars. The resulting system is fully coupled because the dynamics of the slow vehicle depends on the density of cars and, at the same time, it causes a capacity drop in the road, thus limiting the car flux. The first algorithm, based on the Wave Front Tracking method, is suitable for theoretical investigations and convergence results. The second one, based on the Godunov scheme, is used for numerical simulations. The case of multiple bottlenecks is also investigated., Comment: Updated to the Final Published Version

This paper addresses the existence and spectral stability of traveling fronts for nonlinear hyperbolic equations with a positive "damping" term and a reaction function of bistable type. Particular cases of the former include the relaxed Allen-Cahn equation and the nonlinear version of the telegrapher's equation with bistable reaction term. The existence theory of the fronts is revisited, yielding useful properties such as exponential decay to the asymptotic rest states and a variational formula for the unique wave speed. The spectral problem associated to the linearized equation around the front is established. It is shown that the spectrum of the perturbation problem is stable, that is, it is located in the complex half plane with negative real part, with the exception of the eigenvalue zero associated to translation invariance, which is isolated and simple. In this fashion, it is shown that there exists an spectral gap precluding the accumulation of essential spectrum near the origin. To show that the point spectrum is stable we introduce a transformation of the eigenfunctions that allows to employ energy estimates in the frequency regime. This method produces a new proof of equivalent results for the relaxed Allen-Cahn case and extends the former to a wider class of equations. This result is a first step in a more general program pertaining to the nonlinear stability of the fronts under small perturbations, a problem which remains open.

This paper deals with the numerical (finite volume) approximation of reaction-diffusion systems with relaxation, among which the hyperbolic extension of the Allen--Cahn equation represents a notable prototype. Appropriate discretizations are constructed starting from the kinetic interpretation of the model as a particular case of reactive jump process. Numerical experiments are provided for exemplifying the theoretical analysis (previously developed by the same authors) concerning the stability of traveling waves, and important evidence of the validity of those results beyond the formal hypotheses is numerically established.

Consider the Allen-Cahn equation $u_t=\varepsilon^2\Delta u-F'(u)$, where $F$ is a double well potential with wells of equal depth, located at $\pm1$. There are a lot of papers devoted to the study of the limiting behavior of the solutions as the diffusion coefficient $\varepsilon\to0^+$, and it is well known that, if the initial datum $u(\cdot,0)$ takes the values $+1$ and $-1$ in the regions $\Omega_+$ and $\Omega_-$, then the "interface" connecting $\Omega_+$ and $\Omega_-$ moves with normal velocity equal to the sum of its principal curvatures, i.e. the interface moves by mean curvature flow. This paper concerns with the motion of the inteface for a damped hyperbolic Allen-Cahn equation, in a bounded domain of $\mathbb{R}^n$, for $n=2$ or $n=3$. In particular, we focus the attention on radially simmetric solutions, studying in detail the differences with the classic parabolic case, and we prove that, under appropriate assumptions on the initial data $u(\cdot,0)$ and $u_t(\cdot,0)$, the interface moves by mean curvature as $\varepsilon\to0^+$ also in the hyperbolic framework., Comment: 46 pages, 6 figures

The aim of this paper is to study the metastable properties of the solutions to a hyperbolic relaxation of the classic Cahn-Hilliard equation in one space dimension, subject to either Neumann or Dirichlet boundary conditions. To perform this goal, we make use of an "energy approach", already proposed for various evolution PDEs, including the Allen-Cahn and the Cahn-Hilliard equations. In particular, we shall prove that certain solutions maintain a {\it $N$-transition layer structure} for a very long time, thus proving their metastable dynamics. More precisely, we will show that, for an exponentially long time, such solutions are very close to piecewise constant functions assuming only the minimal points of the potential, with a finitely number of transition points, which move with an exponentially small velocity., Comment: Updated to Authors' Accepted Manuscript version

Metastable dynamics of a hyperbolic variation of the Allen-Cahn equation with homogeneous Neumann boundary conditions are considered. Using the "dynamical approach" proposed by Carr-Pego [10] and Fusco-Hale [19] to study slow-evolution of solutions in the classic parabolic case, we prove existence and persistence of metastable patterns for an exponentially long time. In particular, we show the existence of an "approximately invariant" $N$-dimensional manifold $\mathcal{M}_0$ for the hyperbolic Allen-Cahn equation: if the initial datum is in a tubular neighborhood of $\mathcal{M}_0$, the solution remains in such neighborhood for an exponentially long time. Moreover, the solution has $N$ transition layers and the transition points move with exponentially small velocity. In addition, we determine the explicit form of a system of ordinary differential equations describing the motion of the transition layers and we analyze the differences with the corresponding motion valid for the parabolic case., Comment: Updated to Authors' Accepted Manuscript version

We study the emergence of gradient flows in Wasserstein distance as high friction limits of an abstract Euler flow generated by an energy functional. We develop a relative energy calculation that connects the Euler flow to the gradient flow in the diffusive limit regime. We apply this approach to prove convergence from the Euler-Poisson system with friction to the Keller-Segel system in the regime that the latter has smooth solutions. The same methodology is used to establish convergence from the Euler-Korteweg theory with monotone pressure laws to the Cahn-Hilliard equation., Comment: Updated to Authors' Accepted Manuscript version

For an Euler system, with dynamics generated by a potential energy functional, we propose a functional format for the relative energy and derive a relative energy identity. The latter, when applied to specific energies, yields relative energy identities for the Euler-Korteweg, the Euler-Poisson, the Quantum Hydrodynamics system, and low order approximations of the Euler-Korteweg system. For the Euler-Korteweg system we prove a stability theorem between a weak and a strong solution and an associated weak-strong uniqueness theorem. In the second part we focus on the Navier-Stokes-Korteweg system (NSK) with non-monotone pressure laws: we prove stability for the NSK system via a modified relative energy approach. We prove continuous dependence of solutions on initial data and convergence of solutions of a low order model to solutions of the NSK system. The last two results provide physically meaningful examples of how higher order regularization terms enable the use of the relative energy framework for models with energies which are not poly- or quasi-convex, but compensating via higher-order gradients., Comment: Updated to Authors' Accepted Manuscript version

A modification of the parabolic Allen-Cahn equation, determined by the substitution of Fick's diffusion law with a relaxation relation of Cattaneo-Maxwell type, is considered. The analysis concentrates on traveling fronts connecting the two stable states of the model, investigating both the aspects of existence and stability. The main contribution is the proof of the nonlinear stability of the wave, as a consequence of detailed spectral and linearized analyses. In addition, numerical studies are performed in order to determine the propagation speed, to compare it to the speed for the parabolic case, and to explore the dynamics of large perturbations of the front., Comment: Updated to Authors' Accepted Manuscript version

We establish convergence in the diffusive limit from entropy weak solutions of the equations of compressible gas dynamics with friction to the porous media equation away from vacuum. The result is based on a Lyapunov type of functional provided by a calculation of the relative entropy. The relative entropy method is also employed to establish convergence from entropic weak solutions of viscoelasticity with memory to the system of viscoelasticity of the rate-type., Comment: Updated to Authors' Accepted Manuscript version

This work establishes nonlinear orbital asymptotic stability of scalar radiative shock profiles, namely, traveling wave solutions to the simplified model system of radiating gas \cite{Hm}, consisting of a scalar conservation law coupled with an elliptic equation for the radiation flux. The method is based on the derivation of pointwise Green function bounds and description of the linearized solution operator. A new feature in the present analysis is the construction of the resolvent kernel for the case of an eigenvalue system of equations of degenerate type. Nonlinear stability then follows in standard fashion by linear estimates derived from these pointwise bounds, combined with nonlinear-damping type energy estimates.

This paper deals with the rigorous study of the diffusive stress relaxation in the multidimensional system arising in the mathematical modeling of viscoelastic materials. The control of an appropriate high order energy shall lead to the proof of that limit in Sobolev space. It is shown also as the same result can be obtained in terms of relative modulate energies., Comment: 10 pages. submitted

The present paper deals with the following hyperbolic--elliptic coupled system, modelling dynamics of a gas in presence of radiation, $u_{t}+ f(u)_{x} +Lq_{x}=0, -q_{xx} + Rq +G\cdot u_{x}=0,$ where $u\in\R^{n}$, $q\in\R$ and $R>0$, $G$, $L\in\R^{n}$. The flux function $f : \R^n\to\R^n$ is smooth and such that $\nabla f$ has $n$ distinct real eigenvalues for any $u$. The problem of existence of admissible radiative shock wave is considered, i.e. existence of a solution of the form $(u,q)(x,t):=(U,Q)(x-st)$, such that $(U,Q)(\pm\infty)=(u_\pm,0)$, and $u_\pm\in\R^n$, $s\in\R$ define a shock wave for the reduced hyperbolic system, obtained by formally putting L=0. It is proved that, if $u_-$ is such that $\nabla\lambda_{k}(u_-)\cdot r_{k}(u_-)\neq 0$,(where $\lambda_k$ denotes the $k$-th eigenvalue of $\nabla f$ and $r_k$ a corresponding right eigenvector) and $(\ell_{k}(u_{-})\cdot L) (G\cdot r_{k}(u_{-})) >0$, then there exists a neighborhood $\mathcal U$ of $u_-$ such that for any $u_+\in{\mathcal U}$, $s\in\R$ such that the triple $(u_{-},u_{+};s)$ defines a shock wave for the reduced hyperbolic system, there exists a (unique up to shift) admissible radiative shock wave for the complete hyperbolic--elliptic system. Additionally, we are able to prove that the profile $(U,Q)$ gains smoothness when the size of the shock $|u_+-u_-|$ is small enough, as previously proved for the Burgers' flux case. Finally, the general case of nonconvex fluxes is also treated, showing similar results of existence and regularity for the profiles., Comment: 32 pages