On a phase field approximation of the planar Steiner problem: existence,   regularity, and asymptotic of minimizers
  In this article, we consider and analyse a small variant of a functional originally introduced in \cite{BLS,LS} to approximate the (geometric) planar Steiner problem. This functional depends on a small parameter $\varepsilon>0$ and resembles the (scalar) Ginzburg-Landau functional from phase transitions. In a first part, we prove existence and regularity of minimizers for this functional. Then we provide a detailed analysis of their behavior as $\varepsilon\to0$, showing in particular that sublevel sets Hausdorff converge to optimal Steiner sets. Applications to the average distance problem and optimal compliance are also discussed. 
Matthieu Bonnivard, Antoine Lemenant, Vincent Millot
math.AP