In order to describe a solid which deforms smoothly in some region, but
non smoothly in some other region, many multiscale methods have recently
been proposed. They aim at coupling an atomistic model (discrete
mechanics) with a macroscopic model
(continuum mechanics).
We provide here a theoretical ground for such a coupling in a
one-dimensional setting. We briefly study the general case of a convex
energy, and next concentrate on
a specific example of a nonconvex energy, the Lennard-Jones case. In the
latter situation, we prove that the discretization needs to account in
an adequate way for the coexistence of a discrete model and a continuous
one. Otherwise, spurious discretization effects may appear.
We provide a numerical analysis of the approach.