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