Approximation of variational problems with a convexity constraint by PDEs of Abreu type.

Summary Motivated by some variational problems subject to a convexity constraint, we consider an approximation using the logarithm of the Hessian determinant as a barrier for the constraint. We show that the minimizer of this penalization can be approached by solving a second boundary value problem for Abreu's equation which is a well-posed nonlinear fourth-order elliptic problem. More interestingly, a similar approximation result holds for the initial constrained variational problem.