Estimates for eigenvalues of quasilinear elliptic systems

In this paper we introduce the generalized eigenvalues of a quasilinear elliptic system of resonant type. We prove the existence of infinitely many continuous eigencurves, which are obtained by variational methods. For the one-dimensional problem, we obtain an hyperbolic type function defining a region which contains all the generalized eigenvalues (variational or not), and the proof is based on a suitable generalization of Lyapunov's inequality for systems of ordinary differential equations. We also obtain a family of curves bounding by above the kth variational eigencurve.     

Cantor families of periodic solutions for wave equations via a variational principle

We prove existence of small amplitude periodic solutions of completely resonant wave equations with frequencies in a Cantor set of asymptotically full measure, via a variational principle. A Lyapunov-Schmidt decomposition reduces the problem to a finite dimensional bifurcation equation—variational in nature—defined on a Cantor set of non-resonant parameters. The Cantor gaps are due to “small divisors” phenomena. To solve the bifurcation equation we develop a suitable variational method. In particular, we do not require the typical “Arnold non-degeneracy condition” of the known theory on the nonlinear terms. As a consequence our existence results hold for new generic sets of nonlinearities.     

An existence result for dissipative nonhomogeneous hyperbolic equations via a minimization approach

We discuss a purely variational approach to the study of a wide class of second order nonhomogeneous dissipative hyperbolic PDEs. Precisely, we focus on the wave-like equations that present also a nonzero source term and a first-order-in-time linear term. The paper carries on the research program initiated in [14], and developed in [15], [21], on the De Giorgi approach to hyperbolic equations.     

An ultra-weak method for acoustic fluid–solid interaction

We introduce the ultra-weak variational formulation (UWVF) for fluid–solid vibration problems. In particular, we consider the scattering of time-harmonic acoustic pressure waves from solid, elastic objects. The problem is modeled using a coupled system of the Helmholtz and Navier equations. The transmission conditions on the fluid–solid interface are represented in an impedance-type form after which we can employ the well known ultra-weak formulations for the Helmholtz and Navier equations. The UWVF approximation for both equations is computed using a superposition of propagating plane waves. A condition number based criterion is used to define the plane wave basis dimension for each element. As a model problem we investigate the scattering of sound from an infinite elastic cylinder immersed in a fluid. A comparison of the UWVF approximation with the analytical solution shows that the method provides a means for solving wave problems on relatively coarse meshes. However, particular care is needed when the method is used for problems at frequencies near the resonance frequencies of the fluid–solid system.     

Anti-self-dual Lagrangians: Variational resolutions of non-self-adjoint equations and dissipative evolutions

We develop the concept and the calculus of anti-self-dual (ASD) Lagrangians and their derived vector fields which seem inherent to many partial differential equations and evolutionary systems. They are natural extensions of gradients of convex functions – hence of self-adjoint positive operators – which usually drive dissipative systems, but also provide representations for the superposition of such gradients with skew-symmetric operators which normally generate unitary flows. They yield variational formulations and resolutions for large classes of non-potential boundary value problems and initial-value parabolic equations. Solutions are minima of newly devised energy functionals, however, and just like the self (and anti-self) dual equations of quantum field theory (e.g. Yang–Mills) the equations associated to such minima are not derived from the fact they are critical points of the functional I, but because they are also zeroes of suitably derived Lagrangians. The approach has many advantages: it solves variationally many equations and systems that cannot be obtained as Euler–Lagrange equations of action functionals, since they can involve non-self-adjoint or other non-potential operators; it also associates variational principles to variational inequalities, and to various dissipative initial-value first order parabolic problems. These equations can therefore be analyzed with the full range of methods – computational or not – that are available for variational settings. Most remarkable are the permanence properties that ASD Lagrangians possess making their calculus relatively manageable and their domain of applications quite broad.     

On the Cauchy problem for a generalized Camassa–Holm equation

The local well-posedness of a generalized Camassa–Holm equation is established by means of Kato's theory for quasilinear evolution equations and two types of results for the blow-up of solutions with smooth initial data are given.     

Variational iteration method for solving cubic nonlinear Schrödinger equation

The variational iteration method is applied to solve the cubic nonlinear Schrödinger (CNLS) equation in one and two space variables. In both cases, we will reduce the CNLS equation to a coupled system of nonlinear equations. Numerical experiments are made to verify the efficiency of the method. Comparison with the theoretical solution shows that the variational iteration method is of high accuracy.     

Spencer sequence and variational sequence

The purpose of this paper is to revisit the construction of the variational sequence existing within the formal calculus of variations, in order to stabilize the order of jets involved and to establish a link with the dual of the Spencer sequence existing within the formal theory of systems of partial differential equations.     

Local existence with physical vacuum boundary condition to Euler equations with damping

In this paper, we consider the local existence of solutions to Euler equations with linear damping under the assumption of physical vacuum boundary condition. By using the transformation introduced in Lin and Yang (Methods Appl. Anal. 7 (3) (2000) 495) to capture the singularity of the boundary, we prove a local existence theorem on a perturbation of a planar wave solution by using Littlewood-Paley theory and justifies the transformation introduced in Liu and Yang (2000) in a rigorous setting.     

Long-time existence for semi-linear Klein-Gordon equations on tori

We use normal forms for Sobolev energy to prove that small smooth solutions of semi-linear Klein-Gordon equations on the torus exist over a larger interval than the one given by local existence theory, for almost every value mass. The gain on the length of the lifespan does not depend on the dimension. The result relies on the fact that the difference of square of two successive distinct eigenvalues of on Td can be bounded from below by a constant.     

Solitons and other solutions to a new coupled nonlinear Schrodinger type equation

In this paper, the first integral method combined with Liu's theorem is applied to integrate a new coupled nonlinear Schrodinger type equation. Using this combination, more new exact traveling wave solutions are obtained for the considered equation using ideas from the theory of commutative algebra. In addition, more solutions are also obtained via the application of semi-inverse variational principle due to Ji-Huan He. The used approaches with the help of symbolic computations via Mathematica 9, may provide a straightforward effective and powerful mathematical tools for solving nonlinear partial differential equations in mathematical physics.     

Singular nonhomogeneous quasilinear elliptic equations with a convection term

In this work we establish existence results for a class of nonhomogeneous and singular quasilinear elliptic equations involving a convection term. The gradient term makes the problem non variational, and in addition to this difficulty we have to handle the singular term with a sign changing nonlinearity. The proof of the results are made combining the sub‐super solution method, fixed point theorem, Leray–Schauder degree theory and comparison theorems.     

Stability for steady states of Navier-Stokes-Poisson equations

In this paper, we study the stationary solution and nonlinear stability of Navier-Stokes-Poisson equations. Using variational method, we construct steady states of the N-S-P system as minimizers of a suitably defined energy functional, then show their dynamical stability against general, i.e. not necessarily spherically symmetric perturbation.     

Numerical solutions of nonlinear evolution equations using variational iteration method

The variational iteration method is used to solve three kinds of nonlinear partial differential equations, coupled nonlinear reaction diffusion equations, Hirota–Satsuma coupled KdV system and Drinefel’d–Sokolov–Wilson equations. Numerical solutions obtained by the variational iteration method are compared with the exact solutions, revealing that the obtained solutions are of high accuracy. He's variational iteration method is introduced to overcome the difficulty arising in calculating Adomian polynomial in Adomian method. The method is straightforward and concise, and it can also be applied to other nonlinear evolution equations in mathematical physics.     

Global existence and long-time behavior of smooth solutions of two-fluid Euler–Maxwell equations

We consider Cauchy problems and periodic problems for two-fluid compressible Euler–Maxwell equations arising in the modeling of magnetized plasmas. These equations are symmetrizable hyperbolic in the sense of Friedrichs but don?t satisfy the so-called Kawashima stability condition. For both problems, we prove the global existence and long-time behavior of smooth solutions near a given constant equilibrium state. As a byproduct, we obtain similar results for two-fluid compressible Euler–Poisson equations.     

Multiple solutions for quasilinear elliptic equations with a finite potential well

We consider multiplicity of solutions for a class of quasilinear problems which has received considerable attention in the past, including the so called Modified Nonlinear Schrödinger Equations. By combining a new variational approach via q-Laplacian regularization and the compactness arguments from [4] we establish infinitely many bound state solutions for the quasilinear Schrödinger type equations, extending the earlier work of [4] for semilinear equations.     

A System of Differential-Operator Equations of Different Orders in Hilbert Spaces

We consider an abstract Cauchy problem for a system of nonhomogeneous abstract differential equations in Hilbert spaces. The “main” equation is of the second order and “boundary” equations are of the first order. Existence of a solution is proved. Application to mixed (initial boundary-value) problems for one-dimensional second order hyperbolic equations and for fourth order PDEs with the time derivative in boundary conditions has been shown. The first author was partially supported by 60% funds of the University of Bologna and G.N.A.M.P.A. of INdAM; the second author was supported by the Israel Ministry of Absorption.     

The analytical solution of two interesting hyperbolic problems as a test case for a finite volume method with a new grid refinement technique

A finite volume method with grid adaption is applied to two hyperbolic problems: the ultra-relativistic Euler equations, and a scalar conservation law. Both problems are considered in two space dimensions and share the common feature of moving shock waves. In contrast to the classical Euler equations, the derivation of appropriate initial conditions for the ultra-relativistic Euler equations is a non-trivial problem that is solved using one-dimensional shock conditions and the Lorentz invariance of the system. The discretization of both problems is based on a finite volume method of second order in both space and time on a triangular grid. We introduce a variant of the min-mod limiter that avoids unphysical states for the Euler system. The grid is adapted during the integration process. The frequency of grid adaption is controlled automatically in order to guarantee a fine resolution of the moving shock fronts. We introduce the concept of “width refinement” which enlarges the width of strongly refined regions around the shock fronts; the optimal width is found by a numerical study. As a result we are able to improve efficiency by decreasing the number of adaption steps. The performance of the finite volume scheme is compared with several lower order methods.     

Local Lipschitz continuity of graphs with prescribed Levi mean curvature

We prove interior gradient estimates of viscosity solutions of the prescribed Levi mean curvature equation. The second author was partially supported by Indam, within the interdisciplinary project “Nonlinear subelliptic equations of variational origin in contact geometry”.     

Positive solutions for a weakly coupled nonlinear Schrödinger system

Existence of a nontrivial solution is established, via variational methods, for a system of weakly coupled nonlinear Schrödinger equations. The main goal is to obtain a positive solution, of minimal action if possible, with all vector components not identically zero. Generalizations for nonautonomous systems are considered.