Some results on the internal finite‐time stabilization of vibrating strings with interior mass

In this paper, the problem of internal finite‐time stabilization for 1‐D coupled wave equations with interior point mass is handled. The nonlinear stabilizing feedback law leads, in closed‐loop, to nonlinear evolution equations where Kato theory is used to prove the well‐posedness. In addition, it is showed that in some cases, the solution of this hybrid system is constant in finite‐time if we use Neumann boundary conditions. This result can be improved (in complete finite‐time stability sense) if we change the above feedback.     

The initial value problem for some hyperbolic‐dispersive system

We consider the initial value problem for some nonlinear hyperbolic‐dispersive systems in one space dimension. Combining the classical energy method and the smoothing estimates for the Airy equation, we guarantee the time local well‐posedness for this system. We also discuss the extension of our results to more general hyperbolic‐dispersive system. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Introduction to nonclassical shock solutions of the modified Burgers‐Korteweg‐de Vries equation

A general property of nonlinear hyperbolic equations is the eventual formation of discontinuities in the propagating signal. These discontinuities are not uniquely defined by the initial data for the problem and a central issue is the identification of acceptable weak solutions. Particular difficulties arise when the hyperbolic system ceases to be genuinely nonlinear in some of its characteristic fields. This equates in the case of a scalar law to the lack of convexity in the flux function. Here a representative example is provided by the modified Korteweg‐de Vries‐Burgers equation which exhibits a quadratic as well as a cubic nonlinear term and arises in a variety of engineering applications including weakly nonlinear waves in fluidized beds and two‐layer fluid flows. Its solutions have the distinguishing feature to generate undercompressive or nonclassical shocks in the hyperbolic limit with dispersion and dissipation balanced. The resulting rich variety of wave phenomena: shocks which emanate rather than absorb characteristics, compound shocks and shock fan combinations, which have no counterpart in classical shock theories is discussed.     

Modulation theory solution for nonlinearly resonant,fifth‐order Korteweg–de Vries,nonclassical, traveling dispersive shock waves

A new class of resonant dispersive shock waves was recently identified as solutions of the Kawahara equation— a Korteweg–de Vries (KdV) type nonlinear wave equation with third‐ and fifth‐order spatial derivatives— in the regime of nonconvex, linear dispersion. Linear resonance resulting from the third‐ and fifth‐order terms in the Kawahara equation was identified as the key ingredient for nonclassical dispersive shock wave solutions. Here, nonlinear wave (Whitham) modulation theory is used to construct approximate nonclassical traveling dispersive shock wave (TDSW) solutions of the fifth‐ order KdV equation without the third derivative term, hence without any linear resonance. A self‐similar, simple wave modulation solution of the fifth order, weakly nonlinear KdV–Whitham equations is obtained that matches a constant to a heteroclinic traveling wave via a partial dispersive shock wave so that the TDSW is interpreted as a nonlinear resonance. The modulation solution is compared with full numerical solutions, exhibiting excellent agreement. The TDSW is shown to be modulationally stable in the presence of sufficiently small third‐order dispersion. The Kawahara–Whitham modulation equations transition from hyperbolic to elliptic type for sufficiently large third‐order dispersion, which provides a possible route for the TDSW to exhibit modulational instability.     

Global well‐posedness for compressible Navier‐Stokes equations with highly oscillating initial velocity

In this paper, we prove global well‐posedness for compressible Navier‐Stokes equations in the critical functional framework with the initial data close to a stable equilibrium. This result allows us to construct global solutions for the highly oscillating initial velocity. The proof relies on a new estimate for the hyperbolic/parabolic system with convection terms. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

On Solutions to a Two‐Component Generalized Camassa‐Holm Equation

We consider a two‐component Camassa–Holm system which arises in shallow water theory. We analyze a wave breaking mechanism and the global existence of solutions. First, we discuss the local well posedness and a blow up mechanism, then establish some new blow up criteria for this system formulated either on the line or with space‐periodic initial conditions. Finally, the existence of global solutions is analyzed.     

Well‐posedness theory for hyperbolic conservation laws

The paper presents a well‐posedness theory for the initial value problem for a general system of hyperbolic conservation laws. We will start with the refinement of Glimm's existence theory and discuss the principle of nonlinear through wave tracing. Our main goal is to introduce a nonlinear functional for two solutions with the property that it is equivalent to the L₁(x) distance between the two solutions and is time‐decreasing. Moreover, the functional is constructed explicitly in terms of the wave patterns of the solutions through the nonlinear superposition. It consists of a linear term measuring the L₁(x) distance, a quadratic term measuring the coupling of waves and distance, and a generalized entropy functional. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Variational Characterizations of Weak Solutions to the Dirichlet Problem for Mixed‐Type Equations

For linear and nonlinear second‐order partial differential equations of mixed elliptic‐hyperbolic type, we prove that weak solutions to the Dirichlet problem are characterized by a variational principle. The weak solutions are shown to be saddle points of natural functionals suggested by the divergence form of the PDEs. Moreover, the natural domains of the functionals are the weighted Sobolev spaces to which the solutions belong. In addition, all critical levels will be characterized in terms of global extrema of the functional restricted to suitable infinite‐dimensional linear subspaces. These subspaces are defined in terms of a robust spectral theory with weights associated to the linear operator. This spectral theory has been recently developed by the authors, which in turn exploits weak well‐posedness results obtained by Morawetz and the authors. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Analysis and computation of least‐squares methods for a compressible Stokes problem

We develop and analyze a negative norm least‐squares method for the compressible Stokes equations with an inflow boundary condition. Least‐squares principles are derived for a first‐order form of the equations obtained by using ω = ?×u and φ = ? · u as new dependent variables. The resulting problem is incompletely elliptic, i.e., it combines features of elliptic and hyperbolic equations. As a result, well‐posedness of least‐squares functionals cannot be established using the ADN elliptic theory and so we use direct approaches to prove their norm‐equivalence. The article concludes with numerical examples that illustrate the theoretical convergence rates. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq, 2006     

Global Small Solutions to an MHD‐Type System: The Three‐Dimensional Case

In this paper, we consider the global well‐posedness of a three‐dimensional incompressible MHD type system with smooth initial data that is close to some nontrivial steady state. It is a coupled system between the Navier‐Stokes equations and a free transport equation with a universal nonlinear coupling structure. The main difficulty of the proof lies in exploring the dissipative mechanism of the system due to the fact that there is a free transport equation of ? in the coupled equations and only the horizontal derivatives of ? is dissipative with respect to time. To achieve this, we first employ anisotropic Littlewood‐Paley analysis to establish the key L¹(? ⁺ ; Lip(?³)) estimate to the third component of the velocity field. Then we prove the global well‐posedness to this system by the energy method, which depends crucially on the divergence‐free condition of the velocity field. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The initial value problem for creeping flow of the upper convected Maxwell fluid at high Weissenberg number

We consider the equations for time dependent creeping flow of an upper convected Maxwell fluid. For finite Weissenberg number, these equations can be reformulated as a coupled system of a hyperbolic equation for the stresses and an elliptic equation for the velocity. In the high Weissenberg number limit, however, the elliptic equation becomes degenerate. As a consequence, the initial value problem is no longer uniquely solvable if we just naively let the Weissenberg number go to infinity in the equations. In this paper, we make an a priori assumption on the stresses, which is motivated by the behavior in shear flow. We formulate a systematic perturbation procedure to solve the resulting initial value problem. Copyright © 2014 JohnWiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A note on the instability of a focusing nonlinear damped wave equation

We investigate the initial value problem for a nonlinear damped wave equation in two space dimensions. We prove local well‐posedness and instability by blow‐up of the standing waves. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On the Cauchy problem for the two‐component b‐family system

In this paper, we establish the local well‐posedness for the two‐component b‐family system in a range of the Besov space. We also derive the blow‐up scenario for strong solutions of the system. In addition, we determine the wave‐breaking mechanism to the two‐component Dullin–Gottwald–Holm system. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On the well‐posedness of a mathematical model of quorum‐sensing in patchy biofilm communities

We analyze a system of reaction–diffusion equations that models quorum‐sensing in a growing biofilm. The model comprises two nonlinear diffusion effects: a porous medium‐type degeneracy and super diffusion. We prove the well‐posedness of the model. In particular, we present for the first time a uniqueness result for this type of problem. Moreover, we illustrate the behavior of model solutions in numerical simulations. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On integro‐differential inclusions with operator‐valued kernels

We study integro‐differential inclusions in Hilbert spaces with operator‐valued kernels and give sufficient conditions for the well‐posedness. We show that several types of integro‐differential equations and inclusions are covered by the class of evolutionary inclusions, and we therefore give criteria for the well‐posedness within this framework. As an example, we apply our results to the equations of visco‐elasticity and to a class of nonlinear integro‐differential inclusions describing phase transition phenomena in materials with memory. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Rigorous Justification of the Whitham Modulation Equations for the Generalized Korteweg–de Vries Equation

In this paper, we consider the spectral stability of spatially periodic traveling wave solutions of the generalized Korteweg–de Vries equation to long‐wavelength perturbations. Specifically, we extend the work of Bronski and Johnson by demonstrating that the homogenized system describing the mean behavior of a slow modulation (WKB) approximation of the solution correctly describes the linearized dispersion relation near zero frequency of the linearized equations about the background periodic wave. The latter has been shown by rigorous Evans function techniques to control the spectral stability near the origin, that is, stability to slow modulations of the underlying solution. In particular, through our derivation of the WKB approximation we generalize the modulation expansion of Whitham for the KdV to a more general class of equations which admit periodic waves with nonzero mean. As a consequence, we will show that, assuming a particular nondegeneracy condition, spectral stability near the origin is equivalent with the local well‐posedness of the Whitham system.     

On generalized Poisson–Nernst–Planck equations with inhomogeneous boundary conditions: a‐priori estimates and stability

In this paper, we consider the strongly nonlinear Nernst–Planck equations coupled with the quasi‐linear Poisson equation under inhomogeneous, moreover, nonlinear boundary conditions. This system describes joint multi‐component electrokinetics in a pore phase. The system is supplemented by the force balance and by the volume and positivity constraints. We establish well‐posedness of the problem in the variational setting. Namely, we prove the existence theorem supported by the energy and the entropy a‐priori estimates, and we provide the Lyapunov stability of the solution as well as its uniqueness in special cases. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Long-Wave Instability in a Three-Layer Stratified Shear Flow

In inviscid fluid flows, instability can occur because of a resonance between two wave modes. For the case when the modes remain distinct at the critical point where the wave phase speeds coincide, then in the weakly nonlinear, long-wave limit, there is an expectation that the generic outcome is a model consisting of two coupled Korteweg–deVries equations. This situation is examined for a certain three-layer stratified shear flow.     

Global existence for three‐dimensional incompressible isotropic elastodynamics

The existence of global‐in‐time classical solutions to the Cauchy problem for incompressible, nonlinear, isotropic elastodynamics for small initial displacements is proved. The generalized energy method is used to obtain strong dispersive estimates that are needed for long‐time stability. This requires the use of weighted local decay estimates for the linearized equations, which are obtained as a special case of a new general result for certain isotropic symmetric hyperbolic systems. In addition, the pressure that arises as a Lagrange multiplier to enforce the incompressibility constraint is estimated as a nonlinear term. The incompressible elasticity equations are inherently linearly degenerate in the isotropic case; i.e., the equations satisfy a null condition necessary for global existence in three dimensions. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Resonantly Interacting Weakly Nonlinear Hyperbolic Waves. I. A Single Space Variable

We present a systematic asymptotic theory for resonantly interacting weakly nonlinear hyperbolic waves in a single space variable. This theory includes as a special case the theory of nonresonant interacting waves for general hyperbolic systems developed recently by J. Hunter and J. B. Keller, when specialized to a single space variable. However, we are also able to treat the general situation when resonances occur in the hyperbolic system. Such resonances are the typical case when the hyperbolic system has at least three equations and when, for example, small-amplitude periodic initial data are prescribed. In the important physical example of the 3 × 3 system describing compressible fluid flow in a single space variable, the resonant asymptotic theory developed by the authors yields, as limit equations, a pair of inviscid Burgers equations coupled through a linear integral operator with known kernel defined through the initial data for the entropy wave. (In the general case we give many new conditions guaranteeing nonresonance for a given hyperbolic system with prescribed initial data, as well as other new structural conditions which imply that resonance occurs.) A method for treating resonantly interacting waves in several space variables, together with applications, will be developed by the authors elsewhere.