Free boundary and mixed boundary value problems for quasilinear elliptic equations: tangential oblique derivative and degenerate Dirichlet boundary problems

We present Hölder estimates and Hölder gradient estimates for a class of free boundary problems with tangential oblique derivative boundary conditions provided the oblique vector β does not vanish at any point on the boundary. We also establish the existence result for a general class of quasilinear degenerate problems of this type including nonlinear wave systems and the unsteady transonic small disturbance equation.     

Regularity of the sample paths of a class of second-order spde's

We study the sample path regularity of the solutions of a class of spde's which are second order in time and that includes the stochastic wave equation. Non-integer powers of the spatial Laplacian are allowed. The driving noise is white in time and spatially homogeneous. Continuing with the work initiated in Dalang and Mueller (Electron. J. Probab. 8 (2003) 1), we prove that the solutions belong to a fractional L²-Sobolev space. We also prove Hölder continuity in time and therefore, we obtain joint Hölder continuity in the time and space variables. Our conclusions rely on a precise analysis of the properties of the stochastic integral used in the rigourous formulation of the spde, as introduced by Dalang and Mueller. For spatial covariances given by Riesz kernels, we show that our results are optimal.     

Hölder estimates of p-harmonic extension operators

It is now a well-known fact that for 1<p<∞ the p-harmonic functions on domains in metric measure spaces equipped with a doubling measure supporting a (1,p)-Poincaré inequality are locally Hölder continuous. In this note we provide a characterization of domains in such metric spaces for which p-harmonic extensions of Hölder continuous boundary data are globally Hölder continuous. We also provide a link between this regularity property of the domain and the uniform p-fatness of the complement of the domain.     

Reverse Hölder inequalities for singular parabolic equations near the boundary

We show that weak solutions to a singular parabolic partial differential equation globally belong to a higher Sobolev space than assumed a priori. To this end, we prove that the gradients satisfy a reverse Hölder inequality near the boundary. The results extend to singular parabolic systems as well. Motivation for studying reverse Hölder inequalities comes partly from applications to regularity theory.     

The regularity for nonlinear parabolic systems of p-Laplacian type with critical growth

We study the Hölder regularity of weak solutions to the evolutionary p  -Laplacian system with critical growth on the gradient. We establish a natural criterion for proving that a small solution and its gradient are locally Hölder continuous almost everywhere. Actually our regularity result recovers the classical result in the case p=2$p=2$ [16] and can be applied to study the regularity of the heat flow for m-dimensional H-systems as well as the m-harmonic flow.     

Optimal partial regularity for weak solutions of nonlinear sub-elliptic systems in Carnot groups

This paper is concerned with partial regularity for weak solutions to nonlinear sub-elliptic systems in divergence form in Carnot groups. The technique of A-harmonic approximation introduced by Simon and developed by Duzaar and Grotowski is adapted to our context. We establish Caccioppoli type inequalities and partial regularity with optimal local Hölder exponents for horizontal gradients of weak solutions to systems under super-quadratic natural structure conditions and super-quadratic controllable structure conditions, respectively.     

Optimal partial regularity for sub-elliptic systems with sub-quadratic growth in Carnot groups

This paper is devoted to partial regularity for weak solutions to nonlinear sub-elliptic systems for the case 1<m<2 under natural growth conditions in Carnot groups. The method of A-harmonic approximation introduced by Simon and developed by Duzaar, Grotowski and Kronz is adapted to our context, and then partial regularity with the optimal local Hölder exponent for horizontal gradients of weak solutions to the systems is established.     

The 1-d stochastic wave equation driven by a fractional Brownian sheet

In this paper, we develop a Young integration theory in dimension 2 which will allow us to solve a non-linear one- dimensional wave equation driven by an arbitrary signal whose rectangular increments satisfy some Hölder regularity conditions, for some Hölder exponent greater than 1/2. This result will be applied to the fractional Brownian sheet.     

Partial regularity for degenerate subelliptic systems associated with Hörmander’s vector fields

The paper is devoted to partial Hölder estimates for weak solutions of a class of degenerate subelliptic systems constructed by Hörmander’s vector fields. Assumptions on the systems are that coefficient matrix satisfies VMO condition in the sense of Carnot-Carathéodory distance in variables x for fixed u, and lower order terms satisfy the natural growth condition and the controllable growth condition, respectively.     

Degenerate two-phase incompressible flow II: regularity, stability and stabilization

In this paper, we analyze a coupled system of highly degenerate elliptic-parabolic partial differential equations for two-phase incompressible flow in porous media. This system involves a saturation and a global pressure (or a total flow velocity). First, we show that the saturation is Hölder continuous both in space and time and the total velocity is Hölder continuous in space (uniformly in time). Applying this regularity result, we then establish the stability of the saturation and pressure with respect to initial and boundary data, from which uniqueness of the solution to the system follows. Finally, we establish a stabilization result on the asymptotic behavior of the saturation and pressure; we prove that the solution to the present system converges (in appropriate norms) to the solution of a stationary system as time goes to infinity. An example is given to show typical regularity of the saturation.     

Existence and uniqueness analysis of a detached shock problem for the potential flow

We study a problem for two-dimensional steady potential and isentropic Euler equations in a bounded domain, where an artificial detached shock interacts with a wedge. Using the stream function, we obtain a free boundary problem for the subsonic state and the detached artificial shock curve and we prove that such configuration admits a unique solution in certain weighted Hölder spaces. The proof is based on various Hölder and Schauder estimates for second-order elliptic equations and fixed point theorems. Moreover, we pose an energy principle and remark that the physical attached shock is the minimizer of the energy functional.     

A priori estimate for non-uniform elliptic equations

A priori estimate for non-uniform elliptic equations with periodic boundary conditions is concerned. The domain considered consists of two sub-regions, a connected high permeability region and a disconnected matrix block region with low permeability. Let ? denote the size ratio of one matrix block to the whole domain. It is shown that in the connected high permeability sub-region, the Hölder and the Lipschitz estimates of the non-uniform elliptic solutions are bounded uniformly in ?. But Hölder gradient estimate and Lp estimate of the second order derivatives of the solutions in general are not bounded uniformly in ?.     

Fractional order Sobolev spaces on Wiener space

Summary Fractional order Sobolev spaces are introduced on an abstract Wiener space and Donsker's delta functions are defined as generalized Wiener functionals belonging to Sobolev spaces with negative differentiability indices. By using these notions, the regularity in the sense of Hölder continuity of a class of conditional expectations is obtained.     

Regularity of minimizers of some integral functionals with degenerate integrands

In this paper we study qualitative properties of minimizers for a class of integral functionals, defined in a weighted space. In particular we obtain boundedness and Hölder regularity for the minimizers by using a modified Moser method with a special test function.     

Spectral stability of the Neumann Laplacian

We prove the equivalence of Hardy- and Sobolev-type inequalities, certain uniform bounds on the heat kernel and some spectral regularity properties of the Neumann Laplacian associated with an arbitrary region of finite measure in Euclidean space. We also prove that if one perturbs the boundary of the region within a uniform Hölder category, then the eigenvalues of the Neumann Laplacian change by a small and explicitly estimated amount.     

Stochastic partial differential equations in Hölder spaces

Summary We prove the existence and regularity of solutions to stochastic partial differential equations of parabolic Itô type in Hölder spaces under the usual sublinear growth and local Lipschitz conditions. Some examples are given to which our main theorems apply.The work of the first author was supported in part by the NSF grant DMS-91-01360     

Remarks on Hölder continuity for solutions of the p-Laplace evolution equations

We study the interior Hölder regularity problem for the gradient of solutions of the p-Laplace evolution equations with the external forces. Misawa gave some conditions for the Hölder continuity of the gradient of solutions. We show Hölder estimates of the solutions with weaker condition as for Misawa.     

Regularity of weak solution to Maxwell's equations and applications to microwave heating

In this paper we first study the regularity of weak solution for time-harmonic Maxwell's equations in a bounded anisotropic medium Ω. It is shown that the weak solution to the linear degenerate system, , is Hölder continuous under the minimum regularity assumptions on the complex coefficients γ(x) and ξ(x). We then study a coupled system modeling a microwave heating process. The dynamic interaction between electric and temperature fields is governed by Maxwell's equations coupled with an equation of heat conduction. The electric permittivity, electric conductivity and magnetic permeability are assumed to be dependent of temperature. It is shown that under certain conditions the coupled system has a weak solution. Moreover, regularity of weak solution is studied. Finally, existence of a global classical solution is established for a special case where the electric wave is assumed to be propagating in one direction.     

The Muskat problem with surface tension and a nonregular initial interface

In this paper, we consider the two-dimensional Muskat problem with surface tension on a free boundary. The initial shape of the unknown interface has a corner point. We prove that the problem has a unique solution in the weighted Hölder classes locally in time and specify the sufficient conditions for the existence of the “waiting time” phenomenon.