Convergence of regularized nonlocal interaction energies

Inspired by numerical studies of the aggregation equation, we study the effect of regularization on nonlocal interaction energies. We consider energies defined via a repulsive-attractive interaction kernel, regularized by convolution with a mollifier. We prove that, with respect to the 2-Wasserstein metric, the regularized energies $\Gamma$-converge to the unregularized energy and minimizers converge to minimizers. We then apply our results to prove $\Gamma$-convergence of the gradient flows, when restricted to the space of measures with bounded density.