Slow convergence in periodic homogenization problems for divergence type elliptic operators

Abstract: We introduce a new constructive method for establishing lower bounds on convergence rates of periodic homogenization problems associated with divergence type elliptic operators. The construction is applied in two settings. First, we show that solutions to boundary layer problems for divergence type elliptic equations set in halfspaces and with infinitely smooth data, may converge to their corresponding boundary layer tails as slow as one wish depending on the position of the hyperplane. Second, we construct a Dirichlet problem for divergence type elliptic operators set in a bounded domain, and with all data being $C^\infty$-smooth, for which the boundary value homogenization holds with arbitrarily slow speed.