English

Dimension reduction of fractional Sobolev seminorms on thin domains

Analysis of PDEs 2026-03-17 v1 Functional Analysis

Abstract

We study the asymptotic behaviour of Gagliardo seminorms in HsH^s defined on thin films Ω\e=ω×(0,\e)\Omega_\e=\omega\times(0,\e). The first relevant order is \e12s\e^{1-2s}, at which the corresponding limit captures the vertical fractional oscillations through one-dimensional sections. The second relevant order produces dimension-reduction regimes that undergo a qualitative transition at the critical exponent s=12s=\tfrac12. For s<12s<\tfrac12, the dominant contribution is driven by interactions at finite planar distance, and the dimension-reduction scale is \e2\e^2. In this regime, the limit is a lower-dimensional \emph{fractional} energy with an effective gain of 12\tfrac12 in the differentiability index. At the critical exponent s=1/2s=1/2, the dimension-reduction scale is \e2log\e\e^{2}|\log\e|, and the limit is {\em local}, with dominant interactions at scales between \e\e and 11, producing a Dirichlet-type limit on ω\omega. For s>12s>\tfrac12, the dominant contribution is instead driven by interactions at distances of order ε\varepsilon, the dimension-reduction scale is \e32s\e^{3-2s}, and the second-order Γ\Gamma-limit is still local. We also study the case s=s\e1s=s_\e\to 1^-, showing a Bourgain--Brezis--Mironescu-type result.

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Cite

@article{arxiv.2603.13968,
  title  = {Dimension reduction of fractional Sobolev seminorms on thin domains},
  author = {Andrea Braides and Andrea Pinamonti and Margherita Solci},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2603.13968},
  year   = {2026}
}