Numerical solutions with a priori error bounds for coupled self-adjoint time dependent partial differential systems

This paper is concerned with the construction of accurate continuous numerical solutions for partial self-adjoint differential systems of the type (P(t) u_t)_t = Q(t)u_xx, u(0, t) = u(d, t) = 0, u(x, 0) = f(x), u_t(x, 0) = g(x), 0 ≤ x ≤ d, t >- 0, where P(t), Q(t) are positive definite oR^r×r-valued functions such that P′(t) and Q′(t) are simultaneously semidefinite (positive or negative) for all t ≥ 0. First, an exact theoretical series solution of the problem is obtained using a separation of variables technique. After appropriate truncation strategy and the numerical solution of certain matrix differential initial value problems the following question is addressed. Given T > 0 and an admissible error ϵ > 0 how to construct a continuous numerical solution whose error with respect to the exact series solution is smaller than ϵ, uniformly in D(T) = {(x, t); 0 ≤ x ≤ d, 0 ≤ t ≤ T}. Uniqueness of solutions is also studied.     

Regularization of a non-characteristic Cauchy problem for the heat equation

The non-characteristic Cauchy problem for the heat equation u_xx(x,t) = u₁(x,t), 0 ? x ? 1, ? ∞ < t < ∞, u(0,t) = φ(t), u_x(0, t) = ψ(t), ? ∞ < t < ∞ is regularizèd when approximate expressions for φ and ψ are given. Properties of the exact solution are used to obtain an explicit stability estimate.     

A direct numerical procedure for the Cauchy problem for the heat equation

For the Cauchy problem, u_t = u_xx, 0 < x < 1, 0 < t ? T, u(0, t) = f(t), 0 < t ? T, u_x(0, t) = g(t), 0 < t ? T, a direct numerical procedure involving the elementary solution of υ_t = υ_xx, 0 < x, 0 < t ? T, υ_x(0, t) = g(t), 0 < t ? T, υ(x, 0) = 0, 0 < x and a Taylor's series computed from f(t) ? υ(0, t) is studied. Continuous dependence better than any power of logarithmic is obtained. Some numerical results are presented.     

A stability analysis for a semilinear parabolic partial differential equation

We consider a parabolic partial differential equation u_t = u_xx + f(u), where ? ∞ < x < + ∞ and 0 < t < + ∞. Under suitable hypotheses pertaining to f, we exhibit a class of initial data φ(x), ? ∞ < x < + ∞, for which the corresponding solutions u(x, t) approach zero as t → + ∞. This convergence is uniform with respect to x on any compact subinterval of the real axis.     

The Cauchy problem for a linear parabolic partial differential equation

Numerical approximation of the solution of the Cauchy problem for the linear parabolic partial differential equation is considered. The problem: (p(x)u_x)_x ? q(x)u = p(x)u_t, 0 < x < 1,0 < t? T; $\text{u(0, t) = ?}{}_1\text{(t), 0 < t ? T}$; $\text{u(1,t) = ?}{}_2\text{(t), 0 < t ? T}$; p(0) u_x(0, t) = g(t), 0 < t₀ ? t ? T, is ill-posed in the sense of Hadamard. Complex variable and Dirichlet series techniques are used to establish Hölder continuous dependence of the solution upon the data under the additional assumption of a known uniform bound for ¦ u(x, t)¦ when 0 ? x ? 1 and 0 ? t ? T. Numerical results are obtained for the problem where the data ?₁, ?₂ and g are known only approximately.     

Nonlinear parabolic equations with p-growth and unbounded data

The purpose of this paper is to prove the existence of a solution for a nonlinear parabolic equation in the form u_t - div(a(t, x, u, Du)) = H(t, x, u, Du) - div(g(t, x)) in Q_T =]0,T[×Ω, Ω ⊂ R^N, with an initial condition u(0) = u₀, where u₀ is not bounded, |H(t,x, u, ξ)⩽ β|ξ|^p + f(t,x) + βe^λ₁^|u|f, |g|^p/(p-1) ∈ L^r(Q_T) for some r = r{N) ⩾ 1, and - div(a(t,x,u, Du)) is the usual Leray-Lions operator.     

On the existence of shock fronts for a Burgers equation with a singular source term

In this paper we consider the Cauchy problem for the equation ∂u/∂t + u ∂u/∂x + u/x = 0 for x > 0, t ⩾ 0, with u(x, 0) = u⁰₋(x) for x < x₀, u(x, 0) = u⁰₊(x) for x > x₀, u⁰₋(x₀) > u⁰₊(x₀). Following the ideas of Majda, 1984 and Lax, 1973, we construct, for smooth u⁰₋ and u⁰₊, a global shock front weak solution u(x, t) = u₋(x, t) for x < ϕ(t), u(x, t) = u₊(x, t) for x > ϕ(t), where u₋ and u₊ are the strong solutions corresponding (respectively) to u⁰₋ and u⁰₊ and the curve t → ϕ(t) is defined by dϕ/dt (t) = 1/2[u₋(ϕ(t), t) + u₊(ϕ(t), t)], t ⩾ 0 and ϕ(0) = x₀. © 1998 B. G. Teubner Stuttgart—John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Problem with periodicity conditions for a degenerating equation of mixed type

For the equation K(t)u _xx + u _tt − b ² K(t)u = 0 in the rectangular domain D = “(x, t)‖ 0 < x < 1, −α < t < β”, where K(t) = (sgnt)|t| ^m , m > 0, and b > 0, α > 0, and β > 0 are given real numbers, we use the spectral method to obtain necessary and sufficient conditions for the unique solvability of the boundary value problem u(0, t) = u(1, t), u _x (0, t) = u _x (1, t), −α ≤ t ≤ β, u(x, β) = φ(x), u(x,−α) = ψ(x), 0 ≤ x ≤ 1.     

On the generalized Burgers equation

The present paper is concerned with the initial boundary value problem for the generalized Burgers equation u _t + g(t, u)u _x + f(t, u) = εu _xx which arises in many applications. We formulate a condition guaranteeing the a priori estimate of max |u _x | independent of ε and t and give an example demonstrating the optimality of this condition. Based on this estimate we prove the global existence of a unique classical solution of the problem and investigate the behavior of this solution for ε → 0 and t → + ∞. The Cauchy problem for this equation is considered as well.     

Mixed problems for the time-dependent telegraph equation: Continuous numerical solutions with a priori error bounds

This paper deals with the construction of continuous numerical solutions of mixed problems described by the time-dependent telegraph equation u_tt + c(t)u_t + b(t)u = a(t)u_xx, 0 < x < d, t > 0. Here a(t), b(t), and c(t) are positive functions with appropiate additional alternative hypotheses. First, using the separation of variables technique a theoretical series solution is obtained. Then, after truncation using one-step matrix methods and interpolating functions, a continuous numerical solution with a prefixed accuracy in a bounded subdomain is constructed.     

Grow-up of critical solutions for a non-local porous medium problem with Ohmic heating source

We investigate the behaviour of solution u = u(x, t; λ) at λ =  λ* for the non-local porous medium equation ${u_t = (u^n)_{xx} + {\lambda}f(u)/({\int_{-1}^1} f(u){\rm d}x)^2}We investigate the behaviour of solution u = u(x, t; λ) at λ =  λ* for the non-local porous medium equation u_t = (uⁿ)_xx + lf(u)/(ò_-1¹ f(u)dx)²{u_t = (u^n)_{xx} + {\lambda}f(u)/({\int_{-1}^1} f(u){\rm d}x)^2} with Dirichlet boundary conditions and positive initial data. The function f satisfies: f(s),−f ′ (s) > 0 for s ≥ 0 and s ^n-1 f(s) is integrable at infinity. Due to the conditions on f, there exists a critical value of parameter λ, say λ*, such that for λ > λ* the solution u = u(x, t; λ) blows up globally in finite time, while for λ ≥ λ* the corresponding steady-state problem does not have any solution. For 0 < λ < λ* there exists a unique steady-state solution w = w(x; λ) while u = u(x, t; λ) is global in time and converges to w as t → ∞. Here we show the global grow-up of critical solution u* =  u(x, t; λ*) (u* (x, t) → ∞, as t → ∞ for all x ? (-1,1){x\in(-1,1)}.     

Single point blow-up for a semilinear initial value problem

The initial value problem on [?R, R] is considered: u_t(t, x) = u_xx(t, x) + u(t, x)^γu(t, ±R) = 0u(0, x) = ?(x), where ? ? 0 and γ is a fixed large number. It is known that for some initial values ? the solution u(t, x) exists only up to some finite time T, and that ∥u(t, ·)∥_∞ → ∞ as t → T. For the specific initial value ? = kψ, where ψ ? 0, ψ_xx + ψ^γ = 0, ψ(±R) = 0, k is sufficiently large, it is shown that if x ≠ 0, then lim_{t → T}u(t, x) and lim_{t → T}u_x(t, x) exist and are finite. In other words, blow-up occurs only at the point x = 0.     

Positive solutions for Dirichlet problems of singular nonlinear fractional differential equations

In this paper, we investigate the existence of positive solutions for the singular fractional boundary value problem: Dαu(t)+f(t,u(t),Dμu(t))=0, u(0)=u(1)=0, where 1<α<2, 0<μ?α−1, Dα is the standard Riemann-Liouville fractional derivative, f is a positive Carathéodory function and f(t,x,y) is singular at x=0. By means of a fixed point theorem on a cone, the existence of positive solutions is obtained. The proofs are based on regularization and sequential techniques.     

Second‐order finite‐volume schemes for a non‐linear hyperbolic equation: error estimate

We study second‐order finite‐volume schemes for the non‐linear hyperbolic equation u_t(x, t) + div F(x, t, u(x, t)) = 0 with initial condition u₀. The main result is the error estimate between the approximate solution given by the scheme and the entropy solution. It is based on some stability properties verified by the scheme and on a discrete entropy inequality. If u₀ ∈ L^∞ ∩ BV_loc(ℝ^N), we get an error estimate of order h^1/4, where h defines the size of the mesh. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Global solutions of the fast diffusion equation with gradient absorption terms

We investigate the existence of nonnegative weak solutions to the problem ut=Δ(um)−p|∇u| in Rn×(0,∞) with ⁺(1−2/n)<m<1. It will be proved that: (i) When 1<p<2, if the initial datum u₀∈D(Rn) then there exists a solution; (ii) When 1<p<(2+mn)/(n+1), if the initial datum u₀(x) is a bounded and nonnegative measure then the solution exists; (iii) When (2+mn)/(n+1)?p<2, if the initial datum is a Dirac mass then the solution does not exist. We also study the large time behavior of the L¹-norm of solutions for 1<p?(2+mn)/(n+1), and the large time behavior of t1/β‖u(⋅,t)−Ec(⋅,t)L^∞_‖ for (2+mn)/(n+1)<p<2.     

Two-Phase Stefan Problem as the Limit Case of Two-Phase Stefan Problem with Kinetic Condition

Both one-dimensional two-phase Stefan problem with the thermodynamic equilibrium condition u(R(t),t)=0 and with the kinetic rule u_ε(R_ε(t),t)=εR_ε′(t) at the moving boundary are considered. We prove, when ε approaches zero, R_ε(t) converges to R(t) in C^1+δ/2[0,T] for any finite T>0, 0<δ<1.     

An initial- and boundary-value problem for a model equation for propagation of long waves

An initial- and boundary-value problem for a model equation for small-amplitude long waves is shown to be well-posed. The model has the form u_t + u_x + uu_x ? vu_xx ? α²u_xxt = 0, where x? [0, 1] and t ? 0. The solution u = u(x, t) is specified at t = 0 and on the two boundaries x = 0 and x = 1. Unique classical solutions are shown to exist, which depend continuously on variations of the specified data within appropriate function classes.     

Nonlinear Geometric Optics for Short Pulses

This paper studies the propagation of pulse-like solutions of semilinear hyperbolic equations in the limit of short wavelength. The pulses are located at a wavefront Σ?{φ=0} where φ satisfies the eikonal equation and dφ lies on a regular sheet of the characteristic variety. The approximate solutions are u^ε_approx=U (t, x, φ(t, x)/ε) where U(t, x, r) is a smooth function with compact support in r. When U satisfies a familiar nonlinear transport equation from geometric optics it is proved that there is a family of exact solutions u^ε_exact such that u^ε_approx has relative error O(ε) as ε→0. While the transport equation is familiar, the construction of correctors and justification of the approximation are different from the analogous problems concerning the propagation of wave trains with slowly varying envelope.     

Determination of the Unknown Cauchy Data in a Linear Parabolic Problem from the Measured Data at the Final Time

The problem of determining the initial value u(x, 0) = μ ₀(x) in the parabolic equation u _t = (k(x)u _x (x, t)) _x + F(x, t) from the final overdetermination μ _T (x) = u(x, T) is formulated. It is proved that the Fréchet derivative of the cost functional ${{J(\mu_0) = \|\mu_T(x) - u(x, T)\|_0^2}}$ can be formulated via the solution of the adjoint parabolic problem. Lipschitz continuity of the gradient is proved. The existence of a quasisolution of the considered inverse problem is proved. A monotone iteration scheme is obtained based on the gradient method.     

Complete quenching for singular parabolic problems

We prove finite time extinction of the solution of the equation ut−Δu+χ{u>0}(u−β−λf(u))=0 in Ω×(0,∞) with boundary data u(x,t)=0 on ∂Ω×(0,∞) and initial condition u(x,0)=u₀(x) in Ω, where Ω⊂RN is a bounded smooth domain, 0<β<1 and λ>0 is a parameter. For every small enough λ>0 there exists a time t₀>0 such that the solution is identically equal to zero.