On fully practical finite element approximations of degenerate Cahn-Hilliard systems

We consider a model for phase separation of a multi-component alloy with no n-smooth free energy and a degenerate mobility matrix. In addition to showi ng well-posedness and stability bounds for our approximation, we prove conv ergence in one space dimension. Furthermore an iterative scheme for solving the resulting nonlinear discrete system is analysed. We discuss also how o ur approximation has to be modified in order to be applicable to a logarith mic free energy. Finally numerical experiments with three components in one and two space dimensions are presented.