A Review on the Cahn-Hilliard Equation: Classical Results and Recent Advances in Dynamic Boundary Conditions

Abstract

The Cahn-Hilliard equation is a fundamental model that describes the phase separation process in multi-component mixtures. It has been successfully extended to many different contexts in several scientific fields. In this survey article, we briefly review the derivation, structure as well as some analytical issues for the Cahn-Hilliard equation and its variants. Our focus will be placed on the well-posedness and long-time behavior of the Cahn-Hilliard equation in the classical setting and recent progresses on the dynamic boundary conditions accounting for non-trivial boundary effects.