$\mathcal{A}$-quasiconvexity, G\r{a}rding inequalities and applications in PDE constrained problems in dynamics and statics

Abstract

A G\r{a}rding-type inequality is proved for a quadratic form associated to $\mathcal{A}$-quasiconvex functions. This quadratic form appears as the relative entropy in the theory of conservation laws and it is related to the Weierstrass excess function in the calculus of variations. The former provides weak-strong uniqueness results, whereas the latter has been used to provide sufficiency theorems for local minimisers. Using this new G\r{a}rding inequality we provide an extension of these results to PDE constrained problems in dynamics and statics under $\mathcal{A}$-quasiconvexity assumptions. The application in statics improves existing results by proving uniqueness of $L^p$ local minimisers in the classical $\mathcal{A}= {\rm curl}$ case.