Korn type inequalities for objective structures

Abstract

We establish discrete Korn type inequalities for particle systems within the general class of objective structures that represents a far reaching generalization of crystal lattice structures. For space filling configurations whose symmetry group is a general space group we obtain a full discrete Korn inequality. For systems with non-trivial codimension our results provide an intrinsic rigidity estimate within the extended dimensions of the structure. As their continuum counterparts in elasticity theory, such estimates are at the core of energy estimates and, hence, a stability analysis for a wide class of atomistic particle systems.