Some remarks on the theory of elasticity for compressible Neohookean materials

Abstract

In Neohookean elasticity one minimizes functionals which depend on the L2 norm of the deformation gradient, plus a nonlinear function of the determinant, with some notion of invertibility to represent non-interpenetrability of matter. An existence theory which includes a precise notion of invertibility and allows for cavitation was formulated by Müller and Spector, however only for the case where some Lp-norm of the gradient with p > 2 is controlled (in three dimensions). We first characterize their class of functions in terms of properties of the associated rectifiable current. Then we address the physically relevant p = 2 case, and show how their notion of invertibility can be extended to p = 2. The class of functions so obtained is however not closed. We prove this by giving an explicit construction, which has interesting consequences even in other frameworks.