On the regularity criteria of a surface quasi-geostrophic equation

We obtain regularity criteria for a quasi-geostrophic equation that depends more on one direction than the others. In particular, we show that in the critical case, the global regularity depends only on a partial derivative rather than a gradient of the solution.     

Existence of global decaying solutions to the exterior problem for the Klein–Gordon equation with a nonlinear localized dissipation and a derivative nonlinearity

We prove the existence of global decaying solutions to the exterior problem for the Klein–Gordon equation with a nonlinear localized dissipation and a derivative nonlinearity. To derive the required estimates of solutions we employ a ‘loan’ method.     

Rate estimates of gradient blowup for a heat equation with exponential nonlinearity

We consider a one-dimensional semilinear parabolic equation , for which the spatial derivative of solutions becomes unbounded in finite time while the solutions themselves remain bounded. We establish estimates of blowup rate upper and lower bounds. We prove that in this case the blowup rate does not match the one obtained by the rescaling method.     

Global existence and decay for nonlinear dissipative wave equations with a derivative nonlinearity

We prove the global existence of the so-called H² solutions for a nonlinear wave equation with a nonlinear dissipative term and a derivative type nonlinear perturbation. To show the boundedness of the second order derivatives we need a precise energy decay estimate and for this we employ a ‘loan’ method.     

Energy method in the partial Fourier space and application to stability problems in the half space

The energy method in the Fourier space is useful in deriving the decay estimates for problems in the whole space Rn. In this paper, we study half space problems in and develop the energy method in the partial Fourier space obtained by taking the Fourier transform with respect to the tangential variable x^′∈Rn−1. For the variable x₁∈R₊ in the normal direction, we use L² space or weighted L² space. We apply this energy method to the half space problem for damped wave equations with a nonlinear convection term and prove the asymptotic stability of planar stationary waves by showing a sharp convergence rate for t→∞. The result obtained in this paper is a refinement of the previous one in Ueda et al. (2008) [13].     

On the continuation principles for the Euler equations and the quasi-geostrophic equation

We obtain new continuation principle of the local classical solutions of the 3D Euler equations, where the regularity condition of the direction field of the vorticiy and the integrability condition of the magnitude of the vorticity are incorporated simultaneously. The regularity of the vorticity direction field is most appropriately measured by the Triebel-Lizorkin type of norm. Similar result is also obtained for the inviscid 2D quasi-geostrophic equation.     

On a nonclassical fractional boundary-value problem for the Laplace operator

In this paper we consider a boundary-value problem for the Poisson equation with a boundary condition comprising the fractional derivative in time and the right-hand sides dependent on time. We prove the one-valued solvability of this problem, and provide the coercive estimates of the solution.     

On symmetry of nonnegative solutions of elliptic equations

We consider the Dirichlet problem for a class of fully nonlinear elliptic equations on a bounded domain Ω. We assume that Ω is symmetric about a hyperplane H and convex in the direction perpendicular to H. By a well-known result of Gidas, Ni and Nirenberg and its generalizations, all positive solutions are reflectionally symmetric about H and decreasing away from the hyperplane in the direction orthogonal to H. For nonnegative solutions, this result is not always true. We show that, nonetheless, the symmetry part of the result remains valid for nonnegative solutions: any nonnegative solution u is symmetric about H  . Moreover, we prove that if u?0$u?0$, then the nodal set of u divides the domain Ω into a finite number of reflectionally symmetric subdomains in which u has the usual Gidas–Ni–Nirenberg symmetry and monotonicity properties. We also show several examples of nonnegative solutions with a nonempty interior nodal set.     

Life span of solutions for a semilinear heat equation with initial data having positive limit inferior at infinity

We present a new upper bound of the life span of positive solutions of a semilinear heat equation for initial data having positive limit inferior at space infinity. The upper bound is expressed by the data in limit inferior, not in every direction, but around a specific direction. It is also shown that the minimal time blow-up occurs when initial data attains its maximum at space infinity.     

Stability of steady multi-wave configurations for the full Euler equations of compressible fluid flow

We are concerned with the stability of steady multi-wave configurations for the full Euler equations of compressible fluid flow. In this paper, we focus on the stability of steady four-wave configurations that are the solutions of the Riemann problem in the flow direction, consisting of two shocks, one vortex sheet, and one entropy wave, which is one of the core multi-wave configurations for the two-dimensional Euler equations. It is proved that such steady four-wave configurations in supersonic flow are stable in structure globally, even under the BV perturbation of the incoming flow in the flow direction. In order to achieve this, we first formulate the problem as the Cauchy problem (initial value problem) in the flow direction, and then develop a modified Glimm difference scheme and identify a Glimm-type functional to obtain the required BV estimates by tracing the interactions not only between the strong shocks and weak waves, but also between the strong vortex sheet/entropy wave and weak waves. The key feature of the Euler equations is that the reflection coefficient is always less than $1$, when a weak wave of different family interacts with the strong vortex sheet/entropy wave or the shock wave, which is crucial to guarantee that the Glimm functional is decreasing. Then these estimates are employed to establish the convergence of the approximate solutions to a global entropy solution, close to the background solution of steady four-wave configuration.     

Dispersive blow-up for nonlinear Schrödinger equations revisited

The possibility of finite-time, dispersive blow-up for nonlinear equations of Schrödinger type is revisited. This mathematical phenomena is one of the conceivable explanations for oceanic and optical rogue waves. In dimension one, the fact that dispersive blow up does occur for nonlinear Schrödinger equations already appears in [9]. In the present work, the existing results are extended in several ways. In one direction, the theory is broadened to include the Davey–Stewartson and Gross–Pitaevskii equations. In another, dispersive blow up is shown to obtain for nonlinear Schrödinger equations in spatial dimensions larger than one and for more general power-law nonlinearities. As a by-product of our analysis, a sharp global smoothing estimate for the integral term appearing in Duhamel's formula is obtained.     

Two-dimensional curved fronts in a periodic shear flow

This paper is devoted to the study of traveling fronts of reaction-diffusion equations with periodic advection in the whole plane R². We are interested in curved fronts satisfying some “conical” conditions at infinity. We prove that there is a minimal speed c^∗ such that curved fronts with speed c exist if and only if c≥c^∗. Moreover, we show that such curved fronts are decreasing in the direction of propagation, that is, they are increasing in time. We also give some results about the asymptotic behaviors of the speed with respect to the advection, diffusion and reaction coefficients.     

Generalized fronts in reaction-diffusion equations with mono-stable nonlinearity

We consider transition fronts (generalized traveling fronts) of mono-stable reaction-diffusion equations with spatially inhomogeneous nonlinearity. By constructing a cutoff function and using an approximate method, we establish the existence of transition fronts of the equation. Furthermore, we give the uniform non-degeneracy estimates of the solutions, such as a lower bound on the time derivative on some level sets, as well as an upper bound on the spatial derivative.     

Pseudoconvex fully nonlinear partial differential operators: strong comparison theorems

We introduce a new class of curvature PDOs describing relevant properties of real hypersurfaces of . In our setting, the pseudoconvexity and the Levi form play the same role as the convexity and the real Hessian matrix play in the real Euclidean one. Our curvature operators are second-order fully nonlinear PDOs not elliptic at any point. However, when computed on generalized s-pseudoconvex functions, we shall show that their characteristic form is nonnegative definite with kernel of dimension one. Moreover, we shall show that the missing ellipticity direction can be recovered by taking into account the CR structure of the hypersurfaces. These properties allow us to prove a strong comparison principle, leading to symmetry theorems for domains with constant curvatures and to identification results for domains with comparable curvatures.     

Regularity, monotonicity and symmetry of positive solutions of m-Laplace equations

We consider the Dirichlet problem for positive solutions of the equation −Δ_m(u)=f(u) in a bounded smooth domain Ω, with f locally Lipschitz continuous, and prove some regularity results for weak solutions. In particular when f(s)>0 for s>0 we prove summability properties of , and Sobolev's and Poincaré type inequalities in weighted Sobolev spaces with weight |Du|^m−2. The point of view of considering |Du|^m−2 as a weight is particularly useful when studying qualitative properties of a fixed solution. In particular, exploiting these new regularity results we can prove a weak comparison principle for the solutions and, using the well known Alexandrov-Serrin moving plane method, we then prove a general monotonicity (and symmetry) theorem for positive solutions u of the Dirichlet problem in bounded (and symmetric in one direction) domains when f(s)>0 for s>0 and m>2. Previously, results of this type in general bounded (and symmetric) domains had been proved only in the case 1<m<2.     

Blow-up of solutions for a nonlinear beam equation with fractional feedback

A nonlinear beam equation describing the transversal vibrations of a beam with boundary feedback is considered. The boundary feedback involves a fractional derivative. We discuss the asymptotic behavior of solutions. In fact, we prove that solutions blow up in finite time under certain assumptions on the nonlinearity.     

On crack propagation shapes in elastic bodies

We consider a two dimensional elastic isotropic body with a curvilinear crack. The formula for the derivative of the energy functional with respect to the crack length is discussed. It is proved that this derivative is independent of the crack path provided that we consider quite smooth crack propagation shapes. An estimate for the derivative of the energy functional being uniform with respect to the crack propagation shape is derived.     

Attractors for reaction-diffusion equations on thin domains whose linear part is non-self-adjoint

For a bounded smooth domain Ω⊂R^N_x+N_y let Ω_?, 0<?, be a family of domains squeezed in y∈R^N_y direction. On Ω_? we consider a reaction-diffusion equation with nonsymmetrical linear part. We show that under natural conditions on the nonlinearity the generated semi-flows have global attractors which in a certain sense have limits, as ?↓0.     

Multiplicative asymptotics of solutions of the first boundary value problem on a half-axis for a parabolic equation with a small parameter

In this work we consider the first boundary value problem for a parabolic equation of second order with a small parameter on a half-axis (i.e., we consider the one-dimensional case). We take the zero initial condition. We construct the global (that is, the caustic points are taken into account) asymptotics of a solution for the boundary value problem. The asymptotic solution of this problem has a different structure depending on the sign of the coefficient (the drift coefficient) at the derivative of first order at a boundary point. The constructed asymptotic solutions are justified.     

Semi-Classical Limit of a Schrödinger Equationfor a Stratified Material

 We study the semi-classical limit of the dynamic of electrons in a stratified medium. The medium is assumed to be periodic in one direction and slowly varying in the other directions. In this case, a small parameter ɛ is introduced and corresponds both to the Planck constant and to scaled lattice thickness. The limit behavior is studied by means of Wigner measures. The limit process is described by infinitely many transport (Vlasov) equations. (Received 5 May 1999; in revised from 18 November 1999)