Asymptotic analysis of boundary layer correctors in periodic homogenization

Abstract: This paper is devoted to the asymptotic analysis of boundary layers in periodic homogenization. We investigate the behaviour of the boundary layer corrector, defined in the half-space $\Omega_{n,a}:={y\cdot n-a>0}$, far away from the boundary and prove the convergence towards a constant vector field, the boundary layer tail. This problem happens to depend strongly on the way the boundary $\partial\Omega_{n,a}$ intersects the underlying microstructure. Our study complements the previous results obtained on the one hand for $n\in\mathbb R\mathbb Q^d$, and on the other hand for $n\notin\mathbb R\mathbb Q^d$ satisfying a small divisors assumption. We tackle the case of arbitrary $n\notin\mathbb R\mathbb Q^d$ using ergodicity of the boundary layer along $\partial\Omega_{n,a}$. Moreover, we get an asymptotic expansion of Poisson's kernel $P=P(y,\tilde{y})$, associated to the elliptic operator $-\nabla\cdot A(y)\nabla\cdot$ and $\Omega_{n,a}$, for $|y-\tilde{y}|\rightarrow\infty$. Finally, we show that, in general, convergence towards the boundary layer tail can be arbitrarily slow, which makes the general case very different from the rational or the small divisors one.