# An optimal error estimate in stochastic homogenization of discrete elliptic equations

1 SIMPAF - SImulations and Modeling for PArticles and Fluids
LPP - Laboratoire Paul Painlevé - UMR 8524, Inria Lille - Nord Europe
Abstract : This is the second article of a series of papers on stochastic homogenization of discrete elliptic equations. We consider a discrete elliptic equation on the $d$-dimensional lattice $\mathbb{Z}^d$ with random coefficients $A$ of the simplest type: They are identically distributed and independent from edge to edge. On scales large w.~r.~t. the lattice spacing (i.~e. unity), the solution operator is known to behave like the solution operator of a (continuous) elliptic equation with constant deterministic coefficients. This symmetric ''homogenized'' matrix $A_\ho=a_{\ho}\Id$ is characterized by $\xi\cdot A_{\ho}\xi= \langle(\xi+\nabla\phi)\cdot A(\xi+\nabla\phi)\rangle$ for any direction $\xi\in\mathbb{R}^d$, where the random field $\phi$ (the ''corrector'') is the unique solution of $-\nabla^*\cdot A(\xi+\nabla\phi)\;=\;0$ in $\Z^d$ such that $\phi(0)=0$, $\nabla \phi$ is stationary and $\expec{\nabla \phi}=0$, $\langle\cdot\rangle$ denoting the ensemble average (or expectation). \medskip In order to approximate the homogenized coefficients $A_\ho$, the corrector problem is usually solved in a box $Q_L=[-L,L)^d$ of size $2L$ with periodic boundary conditions, and the space averaged energy on $Q_L$ defines an approximation $A_L$ of $A_\ho$. Although the statistics is modified (independence is replaced by periodic correlations) and the ensemble average is replaced by a space average, the approximation $A_L$ converges almost surely to $A_\ho$ as $L \uparrow\infty$. In this paper, we give estimates on both errors. To be more precise, we do not consider periodic boundary conditions on a box of size $2L$, but replace the elliptic operator by $T^{-1}-\nabla^*\cdot A\nabla$ with (typically) $T\sim \sqrt{L}$, as standard in the homogenization literature. We then replace the ensemble average by a space average on $Q_L$, and estimate the overall error on the homogenized coefficients in terms of $L$ and $T$.
Document type :
Journal articles

Cited literature [4 references]

https://hal.inria.fr/inria-00457020
Contributor : Antoine Gloria <>
Submitted on : Tuesday, December 18, 2012 - 6:11:36 PM
Last modification on : Friday, November 27, 2020 - 2:18:02 PM
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### Citation

Antoine Gloria, Felix Otto. An optimal error estimate in stochastic homogenization of discrete elliptic equations. Annals of Applied Probability, Institute of Mathematical Statistics (IMS), 2012, 22 (1), pp.1-28. ⟨10.1214/10-AAP745⟩. ⟨inria-00457020v3⟩

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