Exponential stability of wave equations with potential and indefinite damping

First, we consider the linear wave equation utt−uxx+a(x)ut+b(x)u=0 on a bounded interval (0,L)⊂R. The damping function a is allowed to change its sign. If is positive and the spectrum of the operator (_∂xx−b) is negative, exponential stability is proved for small . Explicit estimates of the decay rate ω are given in terms of and the largest eigenvalue of (_∂xx−b). Second, we show the existence of a global, small, smooth solution of the corresponding nonlinear wave equation utt−σx(ux)+a(x)ut+b(x)u=0, if, additionally, the negative part of a is small enough compared with ω.     

Periodic solutions to one-dimensional wave equation with x-dependent coefficients

In this paper, we study the nonlinear one-dimensional periodic wave equation with x-dependent coefficients u(x)ytt−(ux(x)yx)+g(x,t,y)=f(x,t) on (0,π)×R under the boundary conditions a₁y(0,t)+b₁yx(0,t)=0, a₂y(π,t)+b₂yx(π,t)=0 ( for i=1,2) and the periodic conditions y(x,t+T)=y(x,t), yt(x,t+T)=yt(x,t). Such a model arises from the forced vibrations of a nonhomogeneous string and the propagation of seismic waves in nonisotropic media. A main concept is the notion “weak solution” to be given in Section 2. For T is the rational multiple of π, we prove some important properties of the weak solution operator. Based on these properties, the existence and regularity of weak solutions are obtained.     

Positive periodic solutions of functional differential equations

We consider the existence, multiplicity and nonexistence of positive ω-periodic solutions for the periodic equation x′(t)=a(t)g(x)x(t)−λb(t)f(x(t−τ(t))), where are ω-periodic, , , f,g∈C([0,∞),[0,∞)), and f(u)>0 for u>0, g(x) is bounded, τ(t) is a continuous ω-periodic function. Define , , i₀=number of zeros in the set and i_∞=number of infinities in the set . We show that the equation has i₀ or i_∞ positive ω-periodic solution(s) for sufficiently large or small λ>0, respectively.     

Maximum principles for bounded solutions of the telegraph equation in space dimensions two and three and applications

A maximum principle is proved for the weak solutions of the telegraph equation in space dimension three u_tt−Δ_xu+cu_t+λu=f(t,x), when c>0, λ∈(0,c²/4] and (Theorem 1). The result is extended to a solution and a forcing belonging to a suitable space of bounded measures (Theorem 2). Those results provide a method of upper and lower solutions for the semilinear equation u_tt−Δ_xu+cu_t=F(t,x,u). Also, they can be employed in the study of almost periodic solutions of the forced sine-Gordon equation. A counterexample for the maximum principle in dimension four is given.     

Regularity for a Schrödinger equation with singular potentials and application to bilinear optimal control

We study the Schrödinger equation i∂_tu+Δu+V₀u+V₁u=0 on R³×(0,T), where V₀(x,t)=|x-a(t)|^-1, with a∈W^2,1(0,T;R³), is a coulombian potential, singular at finite distance, and V₁ is an electric potential, possibly unbounded. The initial condition u₀∈H²(R³) is such that . The potential V₁ is also real valued and may depend on space and time variables. We prove that if V₁ is regular enough and at most quadratic at infinity, this problem is well-posed and the regularity of the initial data is conserved for the solution. We also give an application to the bilinear optimal control of the solution through the electric potential.     

Selections of bounded variation under the excess restrictions

Let X be a metric space with metric d, c(X) denote the family of all nonempty compact subsets of X and, given F,G∈c(X), let e(F,G)=supx∈Finfy∈Gd(x,y) be the Hausdorff excess of F over G. The excess variation of a multifunction , which generalizes the ordinary variation V of single-valued functions, is defined by where the supremum is taken over all partitions of the interval [a,b]. The main result of the paper is the following selection theorem: If,V₊(F,[a,b])<∞,t₀∈[a,b]andx₀∈F(t₀), then there exists a single-valued functionof bounded variation such thatf(t)∈F(t)for allt∈[a,b],f(t₀)=x₀,V(f,[a,t₀))?V₊(F,[a,t₀))andV(f,[t₀,b])?V₊(F,[t₀,b]). We exhibit examples showing that the conclusions in this theorem are sharp, and that it produces new selections of bounded variation as compared with [V.V. Chistyakov, Selections of bounded variation, J. Appl. Anal. 10 (1) (2004) 1-82]. In contrast to this, a multifunction F satisfying e(F(s),F(t))?C(t−s) for some constant C?0 and all s,t∈[a,b] with s?t (Lipschitz continuity with respect to e(⋅,⋅)) admits a Lipschitz selection with a Lipschitz constant not exceeding C if t₀=a and may have only discontinuous selections of bounded variation if a<t₀?b. The same situation holds for continuous selections of when it is excess continuous in the sense that e(F(s),F(t))→0 as s→t−0 for all t∈(a,b] and e(F(t),F(s))→0 as s→t+0 for all t∈[a,b) simultaneously.     

The utilization of total mass to determine the switching points in the symmetric boundary control problem with a linear reaction term

The authors study the problem , and u(0,t)=u(1,t)=ψ(t), where ψ(t)=u₀ for t2k<t<t2k+1 and ψ(t)=0 for , with t₀=0 and the sequence tk is determined by the equations , for , and , for k=2,4,6,… and where 0<m<M. Note that the switching points , are unknown. Existence and uniqueness are demonstrated. Theoretical estimates of the tk and tk+1−tk are obtained and numerical verifications of the estimates are presented. The case of ux(0,t)=ux(1,t)=ψ(t) is also considered and analyzed.     

Lipschitz metric for the periodic Camassa-Holm equation

We study the stability of conservative solutions of the Cauchy problem for the Camassa-Holm equation ut−uxxt+κux+3uux−2uxuxx−uuxxx=0 with periodic initial data u₀. In particular, we derive a new Lipschitz metric dD with the property that for two solutions u and v of the equation we have dD(u(t),v(t))?eCtdD(u₀,v₀). The relationship between this metric and usual norms in and is clarified.     

Standing waves for supercritical nonlinear Schrödinger equations

Let V(x) be a non-negative, bounded potential in RN, N?3 and p supercritical, . We look for positive solutions of the standing-wave nonlinear Schrödinger equation Δu−V(x)u+up=0 in RN, with u(x)→0 as |x|→+∞. We prove that if V(x)=o(⁻²|x|) as |x|→+∞, then for N?4 and this problem admits a continuum of solutions. If in addition we have, for instance, V(x)=O(|x|^−μ) with μ>N, then this result still holds provided that N?3 and . Other conditions for solvability, involving behavior of V at ∞, are also provided.     

An even-order three-point boundary value problem on time scales

We study the even-order dynamic equation (−1)ⁿx^(Δ∇)n(t)=λh(t)f(x(t)), t∈[a,c] satisfying the boundary conditions x^(Δ∇)i(a)=0 and x^(Δ∇)i(c)=βx^(Δ∇)i(b) for 0?i?n−1. The three points a,b,c are from a time scale , where 0<β(b−a)<c−a for b∈(a,c), β>0, f is a positive function, and h is a nonnegative function that is allowed to vanish on some subintervals of [a,c] of the time scale.     

Stable transition layers in a semilinear diffusion equation with spatial inhomogeneities in N-dimensional domains

We prove existence and establish the asymptotic behavior, as ε→0, of stable stationary solutions to the equation u_t=ε∇·[d(x)∇u]+(1−u²)[u−a(x)], for , where , N?2, with Neumann boundary condition. The function a(x)∈C0,ν(Ω) satisfies −1<a(x)<1 and vanishes on some hypersurfaces. The results generalize to N-dimensional domains and to variable diffusivity earlier paper by Angenent et al. (J. Differential Equations 67 (1987) 212).     

A unique solution to a nonlinear elliptic equation

The purpose of this paper is to prove the existence of a unique, classical solution to the nonlinear elliptic partial differential equation −∇⋅(a(u(x))∇u(x))=f(x) under periodic boundary conditions, where u(x₀)=u₀ at x₀∈Ω, with Ω=TN, the N-dimensional torus, and N=2,3. The function a is assumed to be smooth, and a(u(x))>0 for , where G⊂R is a bounded interval. We prove that if the functions f and a satisfy certain conditions, then a unique classical solution u exists. The range of the solution u is a subset of a specified interval . Applications of this work include stationary heat/diffusion problems with a source/sink, where the value of the solution is known at a spatial location x₀.     

Isolated singularities of solutions to quasi-linear elliptic equations with absorption

We study the problem of removability of isolated singularities for a general second-order quasi-linear equation in divergence form −divA(x,u,∇u)+a₀(x,u)+g(x,u)=0 in a punctured domain Ω?{0}, where Ω is a domain in Rn, n?3. The model example is the equation −Δpu+gu|u|^p−2+u|u|^q−1=0, q>p−1>0, p<n. Assuming that the lower-order terms satisfy certain non-linear Kato-type conditions, we prove that for all point singularities of the above equation are removable, thus extending the seminal result of Brezis and Véron.     

The heat equation with singular nonlinearity and singular initial data

We study the existence, uniqueness and regularity of positive solutions of the parabolic equation ut−Δu=a(x)uq+b(x)up in a bounded domain and with Dirichlet's condition on the boundary. We consider here a∈Lα(Ω), b∈Lβ(Ω) and 0<q?1<p. The initial data u(0)=u₀ is considered in the space Lr(Ω), r?1. In the main result (0<q<1), we assume a,b?0 a.e. in Ω and we assume that u₀?γdΩ for some γ>0. We find a unique solution in the space .     

Positive solutions for some Schrödinger equations having partially periodic potentials

This paper is concerned with the problem of finding positive solutions of the equation −Δu+(a_∞+a(x))u=|u|^q−2u, where q is subcritical, Ω is either RN or an unbounded domain which is periodic in the first p coordinates and whose complement is contained in a cylinder , a_∞>0, a∈C(RN,R) is periodic in the first p coordinates, infx∈RN(a_∞+a(x))>0 and a(x^′,x^″)→0 as |x^″|→∞ uniformly in x^′. The cases a?0 and a?0 are considered and it is shown that, under appropriate assumptions on a, the problem has one solution in the first case and p+1 solutions in the second case when p?N−2.     

Solutions of non-periodic super-quadratic Dirac equations

This paper is concerned with solutions to the Dirac equation: −i∑αkk_∂u+aβu+M(x)u=Ru(x,u). Here M(x) is a general potential and R(x,u) is a self-coupling which is super-quadratic in u at infinity. We use variational methods to study this problem. By virtue of some auxiliary system related to the “limit equation” of the Dirac equation, we construct linking levels of the variational functional ΦM such that the minimax value cM based on the linking structure of ΦM satisfies , where is the least energy of the “limit equation”. Thus we can show the c(C)-condition holds true for all and consequently obtain one least energy solution to the Dirac equation.     

Dirichlet inhomogeneous boundary value problem for the n+1 complex Ginzburg-Landau equation

We study the following complex Ginzburg-Landau equation with cubic nonlinearity on for under initial and Dirichlet boundary conditions u(x,0)=h(x) for x∈Ω, u(x,t)=Q(x,t) on ∂Ω where h,Q are given smooth functions. Under suitable conditions, we prove the existence of a global solution in H¹. Further, this solution approaches to the solution of the NLS limit under identical initial and boundary data as a,b→0⁺.     

A priori bounds and complete blow-up of positive solutions of indefinite superlinear parabolic problems

We study a priori estimates of positive solutions of the equation t_∂u−Δu=λu+a(x)up, x∈Ω, t>0, satisfying the homogeneous Dirichlet boundary conditions. Here Ω is a bounded domain in Rn, λ∈R, p>1 is subcritical, changes sign and a,p satisfy some additional technical hypotheses. Assume that the solution u blows up in a finite time T and the set is connected. Using our a priori bounds, we show that u blows up completely in Ω⁺ at t=T and the blow-up time T depends continuously on the initial data.