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We discuss a variational approach to abstract doubly nonlinear evolution systems defined on the time half line (Formula presented.). This relies on the minimization of weighted energy-dissipation (WED) functionals, namely a family of (Formula presented.)-dependent functionals defined over entire trajectories. We prove WED functionals admit minimizers and that the corresponding Euler-Lagrange system, which is indeed an elliptic-in-time regularization of the original problem, is strongly solvable. Such WED minimizers converge, up to subsequences, to a solution of the doubly nonlinear system as (Formula presented.). The analysis relies on a specific estimate on WED minimizers, which is specifically tailored to the unbounded time interval case. In particular, previous results on the bounded time interval are extended and generalized. Applications of the theory to classes of nonlinear PDEs are also presented.

We investigate a variational approach to nonpotential perturbations of gradient flows of nonconvex energies in Hilbert spaces. We prove existence of solutions to elliptic-in-time regularizations of gradient flows by combining the minimization of a parameter-dependent functional over entire trajectories and a fixed-point argument. These regularized solutions converge up to subsequences to solutions of the gradient flow as the regularization parameter goes to zero. Applications of the abstract theory to nonlinear reaction–diffusion systems are presented.

The final goal of this paper is to prove existence of local (strong) solutions to a (fully nonlinear) porous medium equation with blow-up term and nondecreasing constraint. To this end, the equation, arising in the context of Damage Mechanics, is reformulated as a mixed form of two different types of doubly nonlinear evolution equations. Global (in time) solutions to some approximate problems are constructed by performing a time discretization argument and by taking advantage of energy techniques based on specific structures of the equation. Moreover, a variational comparison principle for (possibly non-unique) approximate solutions is established and it also enables us to obtain a local solution as a limit of approximate ones.

In this paper we study the long-time behavior of a nonlocal Cahn-Hilliard system with singular potential, degenerate mobility, and a reaction term. In particular, we prove the existence of a global attractor with finite fractal dimension, the existence of an exponential attractor, and convergence to equilibria for two physically relevant classes of reaction terms.

We consider a family of doubly nonlinear evolution equations that is given by families of convex dissipation potentials, nonconvex energy functionals, and external forces parametrized by a small parameter ε. For each of these problems, we introduce the so-called weighted energy-dissipation (WED) functional, whose minimizers correspond to solutions of an elliptic-in-time regularization of the target problems with regularization parameter δ. We investigate the relation between the Γ-convergence of the WED functionals and evolutionary Γ-convergence of the associated systems. More precisely, we deal with the limits δ → 0, ε → 0, as well as δ + ε → 0 either in the sense of Γ-convergence of functionals or in the sense of evolutionary Γ-convergence of functional-driven evolution problems, or both. Additionally, we provide some quantitative estimates on the rate of convergence for the limit ε → 0, in the case of quadratic dissipation potentials and uniformly λ-convex energy functionals. Finally, we discuss a homogenization and a dimension reduction problem as examples of application.

We discuss the sharp interface limit of a diffuse interface model for a coupled Cahn-Hilliard--Darcy system that models tumor growth when a certain parameter $\varepsilon>0$, related to the interface thickness, tends to zero. In particular, we prove that weak solutions to the related initial boundary value problem tend to varifold solutions of a corresponding sharp interface model when $\varepsilon$ goes to zero., arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1212.5582 by other authors

We advance a variational method to prove qualitative properties such as symmetries, monotonicity, upper and lower bounds, sign properties, and comparison principles for a large class of doubly-nonlinear evolutionary problems including gradient flows, some nonlocal problems, and systems of nonlinear parabolic equations. Our method is based on the so-called Weighted-Energy-Dissipation (WED) variational approach. This consists in defining a global parameter-dependent functional over entire trajectories and proving that its minimizers converge to solutions to the target problem as the parameter goes to zero. Qualitative properties and comparison principles can be easily proved for minimizers of the WED functional and, by passing to the limit, for the limiting problem. Several applications of the abstract results to systems of nonlinear PDEs and to fractional/nonlocal problems are presented. Eventually, we present some extensions of this approach in order to deal with rate-independent systems and hyperbolic problems.