Melting and freezing rates of the radial interior Stefan problem in two dimension

Abstract

We consider the interior Stefan problem under radial symmetry in two dimension. A water ball surrounded by ice undergoes melting or freezing. We construct a discrete family of global-in-time solutions, both melting and freezing scenarios. The evolution of the free boundary, represented by the radius of the water ball, $\lambda(t)$ exhibits exponential convergence to a limiting radius value $\lambda_\infty > 0$, characterized by the asymptotic expression \[ \lambda(t) = \lambda_\infty + (1 - \lambda_\infty)\, e^{-\frac{\lambda_k}{\lambda_\infty^2} t + o_{t \to \infty}(1)}, \] where $\lambda_k$ stands for the $k$-th Dirichlet eigenvalue of the Laplacian on the unit disk for any $k\in \mathbb{N}$. Our approach draws inspiration from the research conducted by Had\v{z}i\'c and Rapha\"el [24] concerning the exterior radial Stefan problem, which involves an ice ball is surrounded by water. In contrast, the bounded geometry in our setting leads to scenario results in a non-degenerate spectrum, leading to distinctly different long-term behavior. These solutions for each $k$ remain stable under perturbations of co-dimension $k - 1$.