Homogenization of the parabolic cauchy problem in the Sobolev class H1(Rd)

Abstract

Homogenization in the small period limit for the solution ue of the Cauchy problem for a parabolic equation in Rd is studied. The coefficients are assumed to be periodic in Rd with respect to the lattice ɛG. As ɛ → 0, the solution u ɛ converges in L2(Rd) to the solution u0 of the effective problem with constant coefficients. The solution u ɛis approximated in the norm of the Sobolev space H 1(Rd) with error O( ɛ); this approximation is uniform with respect to the L2-norm of the initial data and contains a corrector term of order ɛ. The dependence of the constant in the error estimate on time t is given. Also, an approximation in H 1(Rd) for the solution of the Cauchy problem for a nonhomogeneous parabolic equation is obtained.