Uniqueness and Nonuniqueness of Viscosity Solutions to Aronsson’s Equation

For a bounded domain and , assume that is convex and coercive, and that has no interior points. Then we establish the uniqueness of viscosity solutions to the Dirichlet problem of Aronsson’s equation:

Rotating Navier-Stokes Equations in $${\mathbb R}^{3}_{+}$$ with Initial Data Nondecreasing at Infinity: The Ekman Boundary Layer Problem

We prove time local existence and uniqueness of solutions to a boundary layer problem in a rotating frame around the stationary solution called the Ekman spiral. We choose initial data in the vector-valued homogeneous Besov space for 2 <  p <  ∞. Here the L ^p -integrability is imposed in the normal direction, while we may have no decay in tangential components, since the Besov space contains nondecaying functions such as almost periodic functions. A crucial ingredient is theory for vector-valued homogeneous Besov spaces. For instance we provide and apply an operator-valued bounded H ^∞-calculus for the Laplacian in for a general Banach space .     

The Toda System and Clustering Interfaces in the Allen–Cahn equation

We consider the Allen–Cahn equation in a bounded, smooth domain Ω in , under zero Neumann boundary conditions, where is a small parameter. Let Γ₀ be a segment contained in Ω, connecting orthogonally the boundary. Under certain nondegeneracy and nonminimality assumptions for Γ₀, satisfied for instance by the short axis in an ellipse, we construct, for any given N ≥ 1, a solution exhibiting N transition layers whose mutual distances are and which collapse onto Γ₀ as . Asymptotic location of these interfaces is governed by a Toda-type system and yields in the limit broken lines with an angle at a common height and at main order cutting orthogonally the boundary.     

Non-autonomous 2D Navier–Stokes System with Singularly Oscillating External Force and its Global Attractor

We study the global attractor of the non-autonomous 2D Navier–Stokes (N.–S.) system with singularly oscillating external force of the form . If the functions g ₀(x, t) and g ₁ (z, t) are translation bounded in the corresponding spaces, then it is known that the global attractor is bounded in the space H, however, its norm may be unbounded as since the magnitude of the external force is growing. Assuming that the function g ₁ (z, t) has a divergence representation of the form where the functions (see Section 3), we prove that the global attractors of the N.–S. equations are uniformly bounded with respect to for all . We also consider the “limiting” 2D N.–S. system with external force g ₀(x, t). We have found an estimate for the deviation of a solution of the original N.–S. system from a solution u ⁰(x, t) of the “limiting” N.–S. system with the same initial data. If the function g ₁ (z, t) admits the divergence representation, the functions g ₀(x, t) and g ₁ (z, t) are translation compact in the corresponding spaces, and , then we prove that the global attractors converges to the global attractor of the “limiting” system as in the norm of H. In the last section, we present an estimate for the Hausdorff deviation of from of the form: in the case, when the global attractor is exponential (the Grashof number of the “limiting” 2D N.–S. system is small).      

The Boundary Riemann Solver Coming from the Real Vanishing Viscosity Approximation

We study the limit of the hyperbolic–parabolic approximation

A New Approach to the Fundamental Theorem of Surface Theory

The fundamental theorem of surface theory classically asserts that, if a field of positive-definite symmetric matrices (a _αβ ) of order two and a field of symmetric matrices (b _αβ ) of order two together satisfy the Gauss and Codazzi-Mainardi equations in a simply connected open subset ω of , then there exists an immersion such that these fields are the first and second fundamental forms of the surface , and this surface is unique up to proper isometries in . The main purpose of this paper is to identify new compatibility conditions, expressed again in terms of the functions a _αβ and b _αβ , that likewise lead to a similar existence and uniqueness theorem. These conditions take the form of the matrix equation

Uniform Convergence for Approximate Traveling Waves in Linear Reaction–Diffusion–Hyperbolic Systems

In this paper we study linear reaction–hyperbolic systems of the form , (i = 1, 2, ..., n) for x > 0, t > 0 coupled to a diffusion equation for p ₀ = p ₀(x, y, θ, t) with “near-equilibrium” initial and boundary data. This problem arises in a model of transport of neurofilaments in axons. The matrix (k _ij ) is assumed to have a unique null vector with positive components summed to 1 and the v _j are arbitrary velocities such that . We prove that as the solution converges to a traveling wave with velocity v and a spreading front, and that the convergence rate in the uniform norm is , for any small positive α.     

The Semigeostrophic Equations Discretized in Reference and Dual Variables

We study the evolution of a system of n particles in . That system is a conservative system with a Hamiltonian of the form , where W ₂ is the Wasserstein distance and μ is a discrete measure concentrated on the set . Typically, μ(0) is a discrete measure approximating an initial L ^∞ density and can be chosen randomly. When d  =  1, our results prove convergence of the discrete system to a variant of the semigeostrophic equations. We obtain that the limiting densities are absolutely continuous with respect to the Lebesgue measure. When converges to a measure concentrated on a special d–dimensional set, we obtain the Vlasov–Monge–Ampère (VMA) system. When, d = 1 the VMA system coincides with the standard Vlasov–Poisson system.     

Crack Initiation in Brittle Materials

In this paper we study the crack initiation in a hyper-elastic body governed by a Griffith-type energy. We prove that, during a load process through a time-dependent boundary datum of the type t → t g(x) and in the absence of strong singularities (e.g., this is the case of homogeneous isotropic materials) the crack initiation is brutal, that is, a big crack appears after a positive time t _i > 0. Conversely, in the presence of a point x of strong singularity, a crack will depart from x at the initial time of loading and with zero velocity. We prove these facts for admissible cracks belonging to the large class of closed one-dimensional sets with a finite number of connected components. The main tool we employ to address the problem is a local minimality result for the functional where , k > 0 and f is a suitable Carathéodory function. We prove that if the uncracked configuration u of Ω relative to a boundary displacement ψ has at most uniformly weak singularities, then configurations (uΓ, Γ) with small enough are such that .     

Oscillating Solutions and Large ω-limit Sets in a Degenerate Parabolic Equation

The paper deals with positive solutions of the initial-boundary value problem for with zero Dirichlet data in a smoothly bounded domain . Here is positive on (0,∞) with f(0) = 0, and λ₁ is exactly the first Dirichlet eigenvalue of −Δ in Ω. In this setting, (*) may possess oscillating solutions in presence of a sufficiently strong degeneracy. More precisely, writing , it is shown that if then there exist global classical solutions of (*) satisfying and . Under the additional structural assumption , s > 0, this result can be sharpened: If then (*) has a global solution with its ω-limit set being the ordered arc that consists of all nonnegative multiples of the principal Laplacian eigenfunction. On the other hand, under the above additional assumption the opposite condition ensures that all solutions of (*) will stabilize to a single equilibrium.      

Nonlinear Instability in Gravitational Euler–Poisson Systems for $$\gamma=\frac{6}{5}$$

The dynamics of gaseous stars can be described by the Euler–Poisson system. Inspired by Rein’s stability result for , we prove the nonlinear instability of steady states for the adiabatic exponent under spherically symmetric and isentropic motion.     

Fine Properties of Self-Similar Solutions of the Navier–Stokes Equations

We study the solutions of the nonstationary incompressible Navier–Stokes equations in , of self-similar form , obtained from small and homogeneous initial data a(x). We construct an explicit asymptotic formula relating the self-similar profile U(x) of the velocity field to its corresponding initial datum a(x).     

Lagrangian Approach to the Study of Level Sets: Application to a Free Boundary Problem in Climatology

We study the dynamics and regularity of level sets in solutions of the semilinear parabolic equation

2D Stochastic Navier–Stokes Equations with a Time-Periodic Forcing Term

We study the long time behavior of the solution X(t, s, x) of a 2D-Navier–Stokes equation subjected to a periodic time dependent forcing term. We prove in particular that as , approaches a periodic orbit independently of s and x for any continuous and bounded real function .      

Full Measure Reducibility for Generic One-parameter Family of Quasi-periodic Linear Systems

Let be the set of m × m matrices A(λ) depending analytically on a parameter λ in a closed interval . Consider one-parameter families of quasi-periodic linear differential equations: , where is analytic and sufficiently small. We prove that there is an open and dense set in , such that for each the equation can be reduced to an equation with constant coefficients by a quasi-periodic linear transformation for almost all in Lebesgue measure sense provided that g is sufficiently small. The result gives an affirmative answer to a conjecture of Eliasson (In: Proceeding of Symposia in Pure Mathematics). Dedicated to Professor Zhifen Zhang on the occasion of her 80th birthday     

A Jordan Curve Spanned by a Complete Minimal Surface

In this paper we construct complete (conformal) minimal immersions which admit continuous extensions to the closed disk, . Moreover, is a homeomorphism and is a (non-rectifiable) Jordan curve with Hausdorff dimension 1. It turns out that the set of Jordan curves constructed by the above procedure is dense in the space of Jordan curves of with the Hausdorff metric.     

Uniform Exponential Dichotomy and Continuity of Attractors for Singularly Perturbed Damped Wave Equations

For , we consider a family of damped wave equations , where − Λ denotes the Laplacian with zero Dirichlet boundary condition in L ²(Ω). For a dissipative nonlinearity f satisfying a suitable growth restrictions these equations define on the phase space semigroups which have global attractors A _η, . We show that the family , behaves upper and lower semicontinuously as the parameter η tends to 0⁺.     

Refined Jacobian Estimates and Gross–Pitaevsky Vortex Dynamics

We study the dynamics of vortices in solutions of the Gross–Pitaevsky equation in a bounded, simply connected domain with natural boundary conditions on ∂Ω. Previous rigorous results have shown that for sequences of solutions with suitable well-prepared initial data, one can determine limiting vortex trajectories, and moreover that these trajectories satisfy the classical ODE for point vortices in an ideal incompressible fluid. We prove that the same motion law holds for a small, but fixed , and we give estimates of the rate of convergence and the time interval for which the result remains valid. The refined Jacobian estimates mentioned in the title relate the Jacobian J(u) of an arbitrary function to its Ginzburg–Landau energy. In the analysis of the Gross–Pitaevsky equation, they allow us to use the Jacobian to locate vortices with great precision, and they also provide a sort of dynamic stability of the set of multi-vortex configurations.