Gamma-Convergence and Saddle Points

  • Date: 05/09/2007
Lecturer(s):

Robert Jerrard (University of Toronto)

Location: 

University of British Columbia

Topic: 

We prove a theorem asserting, roughly speaking, that if a sequence of
functionals converges to a limiting functional (in the sense of
Gamma-convergence, a natural and widely-used notion in the calculus of
variations), and if the limiting functional has a nondegenerate
critical point, then the approximating functionals have an associated
critical point. This is an analog for saddle points of a theorem about
local minimizers, due to Kohn and Sternberg, that has been known for
about 20 years. We apply the theorem to prove the existence of certain
solutions of Ginzburg-Landau equations. This is joint work with Peter
Sternberg

Other Information: 

UBC Mathematics Department Colloquium Hosted by PIMS-UBC 2007

Sponsor: 

pimsubc