Project description
Seeing stable relationships in a new light with a little help from advanced mathematics
When Joseph Louis Lagrange in 1762 derived the equation of minimal surfaces, he could not possibly suspect its deep connections with the theory of phase transitions, which would only be developed two centuries later. We are all familiar with some phase transitions such as ice melting in water. But there are dozens of them which are critical to daily activity and human innovation: metals in an alloy, superconductivity, decision boundaries in finance, liquid crystals, combustion, optimal design of insulators, and many more. Despite the ubiquitous nature and significance of phase transitions, our ability to analyse their stable behaviours mathematically is astoundingly limited. The EU-funded StableIF project combines recent advances with classical tools from the theory of minimal surfaces to develop the mathematical analysis that will enhance our understanding of stable phase transitions.
Objective
One of the main drivers of development for the theory of nonlinear elliptic PDE during the second half of the XX century has been the mathematical analysis of physical models for “inter- faces”. Depending on the specific model, these “interfaces” are called minimal surfaces, phase transitions, free boundaries, etc. These models are very important in applications and, due to their strong geometric content and the interdisciplinary methods required for their study, also from a “pure mathematics” perspective. One of the simplest semilinear PDE exhibiting an interface is the classical Allen-Cahn equation. Originally proposed as a model for metal alloys, it gained mathematical notoriety due to its deep connection with the minimal surface equation and many other important PDE. It is very related to the Cahn-Hiliard equation (phase separation in binary fluids), to the Peierls-Nabarro equation (crystal dislocations), and to the Ginzburg-Landau theory (phase transitions, super-conductivity). In addition, it has similarities with other important models such as Bernoulli’s free boundary problem (flame propagation and shape optimization) or the Eriksen-Leslie system (liquid crystals). In the last four decades, outstanding works led to a very deep understanding of the structure of (absolute) energy minimizers for most of the previous models. Still, up to very few exceptions, almost nothing is known today on the structure of stable solutions —i.e. (roughly speaking) minimizers with respect to sufficiently small perturbations. Since stable solutions are “the ones observable in Nature”, their understanding is a fundamental question. Even though it is a very challenging mathematical problem, all the new analysis tools developed in the last decades plus some recent progress give us now an excellent opportunity to address it. In three words, the very ambitious goal of this ERC project is to “understand stable interfaces”.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences mathematics pure mathematics mathematical analysis differential equations partial differential equations
- natural sciences physical sciences electromagnetism and electronics superconductivity
- engineering and technology materials engineering liquid crystals
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.1.1. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
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Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
ERC-STG - Starting Grant
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Call for proposal
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(opens in new window) ERC-2020-STG
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8092 Zuerich
Switzerland
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