Solid-solid phase transitions with space-dependent wells
arXiv:2607.15133
The paper studies a second-order Modica‑Mortola functional that models solid‑solid phase transitions in heterogeneous media, allowing space‑dependent energy wells, and proves its Γ‑convergence to a local interfacial energy for laminate configurations.
Abstract
We investigate a second-order Modica-Mortola functional of the form \[ E_\varepsilon[u] := \int_Ω\frac{1}{\varepsilon} W(x, \nabla u) + \varepsilon|\nabla^2 u|^2 \, dx, \] which models solid--solid phase transitions in heterogeneous media. We neglect the assumption of frame indifference in the elastic energy density while allowing for space-dependent, pointwise-compatible wells. Under suitable assumptions on and regularity conditions on the associated rank-one connection, we prove that -converges to a local interfacial energy defined for suitable laminate-type configurations.