Published online by Cambridge University Press: 30 June 2014
In this paper we propose a time discretization of a system of two parabolic equationsdescribing diffusion-driven atom rearrangement in crystalline matter. The equationsexpress the balances of microforces and microenergy; the two phase fields are the orderparameter and the chemical potential. The initial and boundary-value problem for theevolutionary system is known to be well posed. Convergence of the discrete scheme to thesolution of the continuous problem is proved by a careful development of uniformestimates, by weak compactness and a suitable treatment of nonlinearities. Moreover, forthe difference of discrete and continuous solutions we prove an error estimate of orderone with respect to the time step.