From nonlocal to local Cahn-Hilliard equation

Abstract: In this paper we prove the convergence of a nonlocal version of the Cahn-Hilliard equation to its local counterpart as the nonlocal convolution kernel is scaled using suitable approximations of a Dirac delta in a periodic boundary conditions setting. This convergence result strongly relies on the dynamics of the problem. More precisely, the $H^{-1}$-gradient flow structure of the equation allows to deduce uniform $H^1$ estimates for solutions of the nonlocal Cahn-Hilliard equation and, together with a Poincar\'e type inequality by Ponce, provides the compactness argument that allows to prove the convergence result.