$L^2$-contraction and asymptotic stability of Cahn--Hilliard fronts

Abstract

We study the stability of transition fronts for the one-dimensional Cahn--Hilliard equation. More precisely, we prove that for any Hölder initial datum sufficiently close to a front in the $L^2$ norm, the corresponding solution of the Cahn--Hilliard equation exists globally and converges, up to a dynamical shift, to the front as time tends to infinity. For the proof, we develop an $L^2$-stability framework adapted to Cahn--Hilliard fronts. The key ingredient is a nontrivial second-order Poincaré-type inequality that reveals a coercive structure in the indefinite quadratic energy form associated with the linearized operator about the front, once the dynamical shift is taken into account. This yields an $L^2$-contraction estimate and, via a far-field semigroup argument, asymptotic orbital stability of the front in the unweighted $L^2$ topology. The stability analysis requires only the $L^2$-smallness of the initial perturbation; no higher-order smallness, spatial localization, or moment assumptions are imposed.