Existence of Optimal Controls for Semilinear Parabolic Equations without Cesari-Type Conditions

Abstract. Optimal control problems governed by semilinear parabolic partial differential equations are considered. No Cesari-type conditions are assumed. By proving the existence theorem and the Pontryagin maximum principle of optimal ``state-control" pairs for the corresponding relaxed problems, an existence theorem of optimal pairs for the original problem is established.     

Optimal Control for the Degenerate Elliptic Logistic Equation

We consider the optimal control of harvesting the diffusive degenerate elliptic logistic equation. Under certain assumptions, we prove the existence and uniqueness of an optimal control. Moreover, the optimality system and a characterization of the optimal control are also derived. The sub-supersolution method, the singular eigenvalue problem and differentiability with respect to the positive cone are the techniques used to obtain our results.     

Existence of Optimal Controls for Semilinear Parabolic Equations without Cesari-Type Conditions

   Abstract. Optimal control problems governed by semilinear parabolic partial differential equations are considered. No Cesari-type conditions are assumed. By proving the existence theorem and the Pontryagin maximum principle of optimal ``state-control" pairs for the corresponding relaxed problems, an existence theorem of optimal pairs for the original problem is established.     

An inverse problem of identifying the coefficient of parabolic equation

This paper studies an inverse problem of identifying the coefficient of parabolic equation when the final observation is given, which has important application in a large fields of applied science. Based on the optimal control framework, the existence and necessary condition of the minimum for the control functional are established. Since the optimal control problem is nonconvex, one may not expect a unique solution. However, in this paper the solution is proved to be locally unique. After the necessary condition is transformed into an elliptic bilateral variational inequality, an algorithm and some numerical experiments are proposed in the paper. The numerical results show that the algorithm designed in this paper is stable and that the coefficient is recovered very well.     

Variational approach and optimal control of a PEM fuel cell

The purpose of this paper is to propose and study a mathematical model and a boundary control problem associated to the miscible displacement of hydrogen through the porous anode of a PEM fuel cell. Throughout the paper, we study certain variational problems with a priori regularity properties of the weak solutions. We obtain the existence of less regular solutions and then we prove the desired regularity of these solutions. We consider a control problem that permits to determine the boundary distribution of the pressure which provides an optimal configuration for the temperature and for the concentration, as well. Since the solution of the problem is not unique, the control variable does not appear explicitly in the definition of our cost functional. To overcome this difficulty, we introduce a family of penalized control problems which approximates our boundary control problem. The necessary conditions of optimality are derived by passing to the limit in the penalized optimality conditions.     

Recovery type superconvergence and a posteriori error estimates for control problems governed by Stokes equations

In this paper, we derive recovery type superconvergence analysis and a posteriori error estimates for the finite element approximation of the distributed optimal control governed by Stokes equations. We obtain superconvergence results and asymptotically exact a posteriori error estimates by applying two recovery methods, which are the patch recovery technique and the least-squares surface fitting method. Our results are based on some regularity assumption for the Stokes control problems and are applicable to the first order conforming finite element method with regular but nonuniform partitions.     

Suboptimal boundary controls for elliptic equation in critically perforated domain

In this paper we study the asymptotic behaviour, as ε   tends to zero, of a class of boundary optimal control problems Pε${\mathbb{P}}_{\epsilon }$, set in ε-periodically perforated domain. The holes have a critical size with respect to ε  -sized mesh of periodicity. The support of controls is contained in the set of boundaries of the holes. This set is divided into two parts, on one part the controls are of Dirichlet type; on the other one the controls are of Neumann type. We show that the optimal controls of the homogenized problem can be used as suboptimal ones for the problems Pε${\mathbb{P}}_{\epsilon }$.     

Boundary optimal control for nonlinear antiplane problems

We consider a nonlinear antiplane problem which models the deformation of an elastic cylindrical body in frictional contact with a rigid foundation. The contact is modelled with Tresca’s law of dry friction in which the friction bound is slip dependent.The aim of this article is to study an optimal control problem which consists of leading the stress tensor as close as possible to a given target, by acting with a control on the boundary of the body. The existence of at least one optimal control is proved. Next we introduce a regularized problem, depending on a small parameter ρ, and we study the convergence of the optimal controls when ρ tends to zero. An optimality condition is delivered for the regularized problem.     

A posteriori error estimates for mixed finite element solutions of convex optimal control problems

In this paper, we present an a posteriori error analysis for mixed finite element approximation of convex optimal control problems. We derive a posteriori error estimates for the coupled state and control approximations under some assumptions which hold in many applications. Such estimates can be used to construct reliable adaptive mixed finite elements for the control problems.     

A posteriori error estimates for hp finite element solutions of convex optimal control problems

In this paper, we present a posteriori error analysis for hp finite element approximation of convex optimal control problems. We derive a new quasi-interpolation operator of Clément type and a new quasi-interpolation operator of Scott-Zhang type that preserves homogeneous boundary condition. The Scott-Zhang type quasi-interpolation is suitable for an application in bounding the errors in L²-norm. Then hp a posteriori error estimators are obtained for the coupled state and control approximations. Such estimators can be used to construct reliable adaptive finite elements for the control problems.     

Identification problem of two operators for nonlinear systems in Banach spaces

We consider the identification problem of two operators having different properties for the systems governed by nonlinear evolution equations. For the identification problem, we show the existence of optimal solutions and present necessary optimality conditions. We illustrate the approach on two examples.     

Analysis of a multistate control problem related to food technology

This paper is concerned with an optimal control problem related to the determination of an optimal profile for the steam temperature into the autoclave along the processing of canned foods. The problem studies a system coupling the evolution Navier-Stokes equations with the heat transfer equation by natural convection (the so-called Boussinesq equations), and with the microorganisms removal equation. The essential difficulties in the study of this multistate control problem arise from the lack of uniqueness for the solution of the state system. Here we obtain—after a careful analysis of the problem mathematical formulation—the uniqueness of part of the state, and the existence of optimal solutions.     

Optimal control of multivalued quasi variational inequalities

Optimal control of various variational problems has been an area of active research. On the other hand, in recent years many important models in mechanics and economics have been formulated as multi-valued quasi variational inequalities. The primary objective of this work is to study optimal control of the general nonlinear problems of this type. Under suitable conditions, we ensure the existence of an optimal control for a quasi variational inequality with multivalued pseudo-monotone maps. Convergence behavior of the control is studied when the data for the state quasi variational inequality is contaminated by some noise. Some possible applications are discussed.     

Mesh-independence of semismooth Newton methods for Lavrentiev-regularized state constrained nonlinear optimal control problems

A class of nonlinear elliptic optimal control problems with mixed control-state constraints arising, e.g., in Lavrentiev-type regularized state constrained optimal control is considered. Based on its first order necessary optimality conditions, a semismooth Newton method is proposed and its fast local convergence in function space as well as a mesh-independence principle for appropriate discretizations are proved. The paper ends by a numerical verification of the theoretical results including a study of the algorithm in the case of vanishing Lavrentiev-parameter. The latter process is realized numerically by a combination of a nested iteration concept and an extrapolation technique for the state with respect to the Lavrentiev-parameter.     

Homogenization and behaviour of optimal controls for the wave equation in domains with oscillating boundary

In this paper the asymptotic behaviour of a second-order linear evolution problem is studied in a domain, a part of wich has an oscillating boundary. An homogeneous Neumann condition is given on the whole boundary of the domain. Moreover the behaviour of associated optimal control problem is analyzed.      

Regularity properties of optimal controls for problems with time-varying state and control constraints

In this paper we report new results on the regularity of optimal controls for dynamic optimization problems with functional inequality state constraints, a convex time-dependent control constraint and a coercive cost function. Recently, it has been shown that the linear independence condition on active state constraints, present in the earlier literature, can be replaced by a less restrictive, positive linear independence condition, that requires linear independence merely with respect to non-negative weighting parameters, provided the control constraint set is independent of the time variable. We show that, if the control constraint set, regarded as a time-dependent multifunction, is merely Lipschitz continuous with respect to the time variable, then optimal controls can fail to be Lipschitz continuous. In these circumstances, however, a weaker Hölder continuity-like regularity property can be established. On the other hand, Lipschitz continuity of optimal controls is guaranteed for time-varying control sets under a positive linear independence hypothesis, when the control constraint sets are described, at each time, by a finite collection of functional inequalities.     

An existence and uniqueness theorem for one optimal control problem

In this paper we investigate the existence and uniqueness for an optimal control problem with processes described by a quasilinear parabolic equation with controls in coefficients and the right side of this equation.     

An optimal design problem with perimeter penalization

We study the optimal design problem of finding the minimal energy configuration for a mixture of two conducting materials when a perimeter penalization of the unknown domain is added. We show that in this situation an optimal domain exists and that, under suitable assumptions on the data, it is an open set.This work is part of the project EURHomogenization, contract SC1-CT91-0732 of the program SCIENCE of the Commission of the European Communities.     

Optimal control of parabolic variational inequalities with delays and state constraint

In this paper, an optimal control problem for parabolic variational inequalities with delays and state constraint is investigated and the necessary conditions for optimal controls are derived.     

Distributed control for a class of non-Newtonian fluids

We consider control problems with a general cost functional where the state equations are the stationary, incompressible Navier-Stokes equations with shear-dependent viscosity. The equations are quasi-linear. The control function is given as the inhomogeneity of the momentum equation. In this paper, we study a general class of viscosity functions which correspond to shear-thinning or shear-thickening behavior. The basic results concerning existence, uniqueness, boundedness, and regularity of the solutions of the state equations are reviewed. The main topic of the paper is the proof of Gâteaux differentiability, which extends known results. It is shown that the derivative is the unique solution to a linearized equation. Moreover, necessary first-order optimality conditions are stated, and the existence of a solution of a class of control problems is shown.