A compactness result for a second-order variational discrete model

We analyze a nonlinear discrete scheme depending on second-order finite differences. This is the two-dimensional analog of a scheme which in one dimension approximates a free-discontinuity energy proposed by Blake and Zisserman as a higher-order correction of the Mumford and Shah functional. In two dimension we give a compactness result showing that the continuous problem approximating this difference scheme is still defined on special functions with bounded hessian, and we give an upper and a lower bound in terms of the Blake and Zisserman energy. We prove a sharp bound by exhibiting the discrete-to-continuous Γ-limit for a special class of functions, showing the appearance new 'shear' terms in the energy, which are a genuinely two-dimensional effect. © EDP Sciences, SMAI, 2011.