Carleman estimates for degenerate parabolic operators with applications to null controllability

We prove an estimate of Carleman type for the one dimensional heat equation $$ u_t - \left( {a\left( x \right)u_x } \right)_x + c\left( {t,x} \right)u = h\left( {t,x} \right),\quad \left( {t,x} \right) \in \left( {0,T} \right) \times \left( {0,1} \right), $$ where a(·) is degenerate at 0. Such an estimate is derived for a special pseudo-convex weight function related to the degeneracy rate of a(·). Then, we study the null controllability on [0, 1] of the semilinear degenerate parabolic equation $$ u_t - \left( {a\left( x \right)u_x } \right)_x + f\left( {t,x,u} \right) = h\left( {t,x} \right)\chi _\omega \left( x \right), $$ where (t, x) ∈(0, T) × (0, 1), ω=(α, β) ⊂⊂ [0, 1], and f is locally Lipschitz with respect to u. Dedicated to Giuseppe Da Prato on the occasion of his 70th birthday     

Boundary controllability of a linear semi-discrete 1-D wave equation derived from a mixed finite element method

In this article one discusses the controllability of a semi-discrete system obtained by discretizing in space the linear 1-D wave equation with a boundary control at one extremity. It is known that the semi-discrete models obtained with finite difference or the classical finite element method are not uniformly controllable as the discretization parameter h goes to zero (see [8]). Here we introduce a new semi-discrete model based on a mixed finite element method with two different basis functions for the position and velocity. We show that the controls obtained with these semi-discrete systems can be chosen uniformly bounded in L²(0,T) and in such a way that they converge to the HUM control of the continuous wave equation, i.e. the minimal L²-norm control. We illustrate the mathematical results with several numerical experiments. Supported by Grant BFM 2002-03345 of MCYT (Spain) and the TMR projects of the EU ``Homogenization and Multiple Scales" and ``New materials, adaptive systems and their nonlinearities: modelling, control and numerical simulations". Partially Supported by Grant BFM 2002-03345 of MCYT (Spain), Grant 17 of Egide-Brancusi Program and Grant 80/2005 of CNCSIS (Romania).     

Uniform blow-up profiles and boundary layer for a parabolic system with localized sources

This paper deals with the Dirichlet problem for a parabolic system with localized sources. We first obtain some sufficient conditions for blow-up in finite time, and then deal with the possibilities of simultaneous blow-up under suitable assumptions. Moreover, when simultaneous blow-up occurs, we also establish the uniform blow-up profiles in the interior and estimate the boundary layer.     

Monotonicity of solutions and blow-up for semilinear parabolic equations with nonlinear memory

We show the existence of monotone in time solutions for a semilinear parabolic equation with memory. The blow-up rate estimate of the solution is known to be a consequence of the monotonicity property.     

Approximate controllability for nonlinear degenerate parabolic problems with bilinear control

In this paper, we study the global approximate multiplicative controllability for nonlinear degenerate parabolic Cauchy–Neumann problems. First, we obtain embedding results for weighted Sobolev spaces, that have proved decisive in reaching well-posedness for nonlinear degenerate problems. Then, we show that the above systems can be steered in L²$L^2$ from any nonzero, nonnegative initial state into any neighborhood of any desirable nonnegative target-state by bilinear piecewise static controls. Moreover, we extend the above result relaxing the sign constraint on the initial data.     

Singular and degenerate anisotropic parabolic equations with a nonlinear source

The Dirichlet problem in arbitrary domain for degenerate and singular anisotropic parabolic equations with a nonlinear source term is considered. We state conditions that guarantee the existence and uniqueness of a global weak solution to the problem. A similar result is proved for the parabolic p-Laplace equation.     

Preservation of convexity of solutions to parabolic equations

In the present paper we find necessary and sufficient conditions on the coefficients of a parabolic equation for convexity to be preserved. A parabolic equation is said to preserve convexity if given a convex initial condition, any solution of moderate growth remains a convex function of the spatial variables for each fixed time.     

A Harnack inequality for a degenerate parabolic equation

We prove a Harnack inequality for a degenerate parabolic equation using proper estimates based on a suitable version of the Rayleigh quotient. Dedicated to Giuseppe Da Prato on the occasion of his 70th birthday     

A fourth order parabolic equation with nonlinear principal part

In this paper, we study a fourth order parabolic equation with nonlinear principal part modeling epitaxial thin film growth in two space dimensions. On the basis of the Schauder type estimates and Campanato spaces, we prove the global existence of classical solutions.     

A regularity result for quasilinear parabolic systems

We consider bounded, weak solutions of certain quasilinear parabolic systems of second order. If the solution fulfills a suitable smallness condition, we show that it is H?lder continuous and satisfies an a priori estimate. This is a well known result of Giaquinta and Struwe [3]. Their argument employs the use of Green’s functions, which is completely avoided in our proof. Instead, our crucial tool is a weak Harnack inequality for supersolutions due to Trudinger [7] in connection with a technique developed by L.Caffarelli [1]. Received: 25 September 2006     

A quenching criterion for a multi-dimensional parabolic problem due to a concentrated nonlinear source

A multi-dimensional parabolic first initial-boundary value problem with a concentrated nonlinear source is studied. A criterion for its solution to quench, in a finite time t_q, everywhere on the concentrated nonlinear source only is given. An upper bound for t_q is also deduced. For illustration, an example is given.     

Quasilinear parabolic and elliptic equations with nonlinear boundary conditions

This paper is concerned with a class of quasilinear parabolic and elliptic equations in a bounded domain with both Dirichlet and nonlinear Neumann boundary conditions. The equation under consideration may be degenerate or singular depending on the property of the diffusion coefficient. The consideration of the class of equations is motivated by some heat-transfer problems where the heat capacity and thermal conductivity are both temperature dependent. The aim of the paper is to show the existence and uniqueness of a global time-dependent solution of the parabolic problem, existence of maximal and minimal steady-state solutions of the elliptic problem, including conditions for the uniqueness of a solution, and the asymptotic behavior of the time-dependent solution in relation to the steady-state solutions. Applications are given to some heat-transfer problems and an extended logistic reaction–diffusion equation.     

Large time behavior for some nonlinear degenerate parabolic equations

We study the asymptotic behavior of Lipschitz continuous solutions of nonlinear degenerate parabolic equations in the periodic setting. Our results apply to a large class of Hamilton–Jacobi–Bellman equations. Defining Σ as the set where the diffusion vanishes, i.e., where the equation is totally degenerate, we obtain the convergence when the equation is uniformly parabolic outside Σ and, on Σ, the Hamiltonian is either strictly convex or satisfies an assumption similar of the one introduced by Barles–Souganidis (2000) for first-order Hamilton–Jacobi equations. This latter assumption allows to deal with equations with nonconvex Hamiltonians. We can also release the uniform parabolic requirement outside Σ. As a consequence, we prove the convergence of some everywhere degenerate second-order equations.     

Roles of weight functions in a nonlinear nonlocal parabolic system

This paper deals with a semilinear parabolic system with coupled nonlinear nonlocal sources subject to weighted nonlocal Dirichlet boundary conditions. We establish the conditions for global and non-global solutions. It is interesting to observe that the weight functions for the nonlocal Dirichlet boundary conditions play substantial roles in determining not only whether the solutions are global or non-global, but also whether (for the non-global solutions) the blowing up occurs for any positive initial data or just for large ones.     

Stable and unstable manifolds for quasilinear parabolic systems with fully nonlinear boundary conditions

We investigate quasilinear systems of parabolic partial differential equations with fully nonlinear boundary conditions on bounded or exterior domains in the setting of Sobolev–Slobodetskii spaces. We establish local wellposedness and study the time and space regularity of the solutions. Our main results concern the asymptotic behavior of the solutions in the vicinity of a hyperbolic equilibrium. In particular, the local stable and unstable manifolds are constructed. Dedicated to Giuseppe Da Prato on the occasion of his 70th birthday     

The Nehari problem for infinite-dimensional linear systems of parabolic type

A complete solution is obtained to the suboptimal Nehari extension problem for transfer functions of parabolic systems with Dirichlet boundary control and smooth observations. The solutions are given in terms of the realization (–A, B, C), whereA is a uniformly strongly elliptic operator of order two with smooth coefficients defined on a bounded open domain ofR _d ,B=AB _D andB _D is the Dirichlet map associated with Dirichlet boundary conditions andC is a bounded observation map fromL ₂() to the output spaceY. The approach is to solve an equivalentJ-spectral factorization problem for this particular realization.     

Harnack estimates for a quasi-linear parabolic equation with a singular weight

In this paper, based on measure theoretical arguments, we establish Harnack estimates and Hölder continuity of nonnegative weak solutions for a degenerate parabolic equation with a singular weight. We transform the equation by performing the change of function. The energy estimates, the upper boundedness, the lower boundedness and the expansion of positivity for the solutions to the transformed equation are obtained. Then our aim is reached.     

Sharp estimates of the convergence rate for a semilinear parabolic equation with supercritical nonlinearity

We study the behavior of solutions of the Cauchy problem for a semilinear parabolic equation with supercritical nonlinearity. It is known that if two solutions are initially close enough near the spatial infinity, then these solutions approach each other. In this paper, we give its sharp convergence rate for a class of initial data. We also derive a universal lower bound of the convergence rate which implies the optimality of the result. Proofs are given by a comparison method based on matched asymptotics expansion.     

On some global well-posedness and asymptotic results for quasilinear parabolic equations

We prove that the quasilinear parabolic initial-boundary value problem (1.1) below is globally well-posed in a class of high order Sobolev solutions, and that these solutions possess compact, regular attractors ast+.     

Strong solutions to a parabolic equation with linear growth with respect to the gradient variable

In this paper we prove existence and uniqueness of strong solutions to the homogeneous Neumann problem associated to a parabolic equation with linear growth with respect to the gradient variable. This equation is a generalization of the time-dependent minimal surface equation. Existence and regularity in time of the solution is proved by means of a suitable pseudoparabolic relaxed approximation of the equation and a passage to the limit.