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We present a study on asymptotically compatible Galerkin discretizations for a class of parametrized nonlinear variational problems. The abstract analytical framework is based on variational convergence, or Gamma-convergence. We demonstrate the broad applicability of the theoretical framework by developing asymptotically compatible finite element discretizations of some representative nonlinear nonlocal variational problems on a bounded domain. These include nonlocal nonlinear problems with classically-defined, local boundary constraints through heterogeneous localization at the boundary, as well as nonlocal problems posed on parameter-dependent domains.

We study the minimizers of a degenerate case of the Ohta-Kawasaki energy, defined as the sum of the perimeter and a Coulombic nonlocal term. We start by investigating radially symmetric candidates which give us insights into the asymptotic behaviors of energy minimizers in the large mass limit. In order to numerically study the problems that are analytically challenging, we propose a phase-field reformulation which is shown to Gamma-converge to the original sharp interface model. Our phase-field simulations and asymptotic results suggest that the energy minimizers exhibit behaviors similar to the self-assembly of amphiphiles, including the formation of lipid bilayer membranes., Comment: 51 pages; 14 figures; submitted for publication; minor typos corrected

We study nonlocal integral equations on bounded domains with finite-range nonlocal interactions that are localized at the boundary. We establish a Green's identity for the nonlocal operator that recovers the classical boundary integral, which, along with the variational analysis established previously, leads to the well-posedness of these nonlocal problems with various types of classical local boundary conditions. We continue our analysis via boundary-localized convolutions, using them to analyze the Euler-Lagrange equations, which permits us to establish global regularity properties and classical Sobolev convergence to their classical local counterparts.

We present a systematic study on a class of nonlocal integral functionals for functions defined on a bounded domain and the naturally induced function spaces. The function spaces are equipped with a seminorm depending on finite differences weighted by a position-dependent function, which leads to heterogeneous localization on the domain boundary. We show the existence of minimizers for nonlocal variational problems with classically-defined, local boundary constraints, together with the variational convergence of these functionals to classical counterparts in the localization limit. This program necessitates a thorough study of the nonlocal space; we demonstrate properties such as a Meyers-Serrin theorem, trace inequalities, and compact embeddings, which are facilitated by new studies of boundary-localized convolution operators.

We consider a class of nonconvex energy functionals that lies in the framework of the peridynamics model of continuum mechanics. The energy densities are functions of a nonlocal strain that describes deformation based on pairwise interaction of material points, and as such are nonconvex with respect to nonlocal deformation. We apply variational analysis to investigate the consistency of the effective behavior of these nonlocal nonconvex functionals with established classical and peridynamic models in two different regimes. In the regime of small displacement, we show the model can be effectively described by its linearization. To be precise, we rigorously derive what is commonly called the linearized bond-based peridynamic functional as a $\Gamma$-limit of nonlinear functionals. In the regime of vanishing nonlocality, the effective behavior the nonlocal nonconvex functionals is characterized by an integral representation, which is obtained via $\Gamma$-convergence with respect to the strong $L^p$ topology. We also prove various properties of the density of the localized quasiconvex functional such as frame-indifference and coercivity. We demonstrate that the density vanishes on matrices whose singular values are less than or equal to one. These results confirm that the localization, in the context of $\Gamma$-convergence, of peridynamic-type energy functionals exhibit behavior quite different from classical hyperelastic energy functionals., Comment: 30 pages

We study the existence and uniqueness of solutions to the vector field Peierls-Nabarro model for curved dislocations in a transversely isotropic medium. Under suitable assumptions for the misfit potential on the slip plane, we reduce the 3D Peierls-Nabarro model to a nonlocal scalar Ginzburg-Landau equation. For a particular range of elastic coefficients, the nonlocal scalar equation with explicit nonlocal positive kernel is derived. We prove that any stable steady solution has a one-dimensional profile. As a result, we obtain that solutions to the scalar equation, as well as the original 3D system, are characterized as a one-parameter family of straight dislocations. This paper generalizes results found previously for the full isotropic case to an anisotropic setting.

We describe and analyze nonlocal integro-differential equations with classical local boundary conditions. The interaction kernel of the nonlocal operator has horizon parameter dependent on position in the domain, and vanishes as the boundary of the domain is approached. This heterogeneous localization allows for boundary values to be captured in the trace sense. We state and prove a nonlocal Green's identity for these nonlocal operators that involve local boundary terms. We use this identity to state and establish the well-posedness of variational formulations of the nonlocal problems with several types of classical boundary conditions. We show the consistency of these nonlocal boundary-value problems with their classical local counterparts in the vanishing horizon limit via the convergence of solutions. The Poisson data for the local boundary-value problem is permitted to be quite irregular, belonging to the dual of the classical Sobolev space. Heterogeneously mollifying this Poisson data for the local problem on the same length scale as the horizon and using the regularity of the interaction kernel, we show that the solutions to the nonlocal boundary-value problem with the mollified Poisson data actually belong to the classical Sobolev space, and converge weakly to the unique variational solution of the classical Poisson problem with original Poisson data.