Solutions of Neumann problems in domains with cracks and applications to fracture mechanics

The first part of the course is devoted to the study of solutions to the Laplace equation in $\Omega\setminus K$, where $\Omega$ is a two-dimensional smooth domain and $K$ is a compact one-dimensional subset of $\Omega$. The solutions are required to satisfy a homogeneous Neumann boundary condition on $K$ and a nonhomogeneous Dirichlet condition on (part of) $\partial\Omega$. The main result is the continuous dependence of the solution on $K$, with respect to the Hausdorff metric, provided that the number of connected components of $K$ remains bounded. Classical examples show that the result is no longer true without this hypothesis. Using this stability result, the second part of the course develops a rigorous mathematical formulation of a variational quasi-static model of the slow growth of brittle fractures, recently introduced by Francfort and Marigo. Starting from a discrete-time formulation, a more satisfactory continuous-time formulation is obtained, with full justification of the convergence arguments.