Lower semicontinuity of attractors of gradient systems and applications

Summary For 0₀, let T(t), t0, be a family of semigroups on a Banach space X with local attractors A. Under the assumptions that T₀(t) is a gradient system with hyperbolic equilibria and T(t) converges to T₀(t) in an appropriate sense, it is shown that the attractors {A, 0₀} are lower-semicontinuous at zero. Applications are given to ordinary and functional differential equations, parabolic partial differential equations and their space and time discretizations. We also give an estimate of the Hausdorff distance between A and A₀, in some examples.Research supported by U.S. Army Research Office DAAL-03-86-K-0074 and the National Science Foundation DMS-8507056.