Existence of global weak solutions and simulations to a Dirichlet problem for a generalized Swift–Hohenberg equation

Abstract

In this paper, we shall investigate an initial–boundary value problem of a generalized Swift–Hohenberg model subject to homogeneous Dirichlet boundary conditions in two spatial dimensions. The model consists of a nonlinear term of the form ${\psi }^2{\Delta }^2{\psi }^2$ in the free energy functional, which is used to model the stability of fronts between hexagons and squares in pinning effect. We first prove the global-in-time existence and uniqueness of weak solutions to this initial–boundary value problem in the case with the parameter $\beta <0$, where we employ the energy method and make use of various techniques to derive delicate a priori estimates. At the end, a few numerical experiments of the model are also performed to study the competition between hexagons and squares.