On the gap between the gamma-limit and the pointwise limit for a nonlocal approximation of the total variation

We consider the approximation of the total variation of a function by the family of nonlocal and nonconvex functionals introduced by H. Brezis and H.-M. Nguyen in a recent paper. The approximating functionals are defined through double integrals in which every pair of points contributes according to some interaction law. We answer two open questions concerning the dependence of the Gamma-limit on the interaction law. In the first result, we show that the Gamma-limit depends on the full shape of the interaction law and not only on the values in a neighborhood of the origin. In the second result, we show that there do exist interaction laws for which the Gamma-limit coincides with the pointwise limit on smooth functions. The key argument is that for some special classes of interaction laws the computation of the Gamma-limit can be reduced to studying the asymptotic behavior of suitable multivariable minimum problems.