On an optimization problem of Bellman

This paper considers a problem proposed by Bellman in 1970: given a continuous kernel K(x, y) defined on I × I, find a pair of continuous functions f and g such that f(x) + g(y) ? K(x, y) on I × I and ∝_I (f + g) is minimum. The notion of basic decomposition of K is defined, and it is shown that whenever K(x, y) or K(x, a + b ? y), I = [a, b], admits a basic decomposition, Bellman's problem has a unique differentiable solution, provided K is differentiable. Explicit formulas for such solutions are given. More generally, there are kernels which admit basic decompositions on subintervals which can be “pasted together” to define a unique piecewise differentiable solution.     

Remarks on large solutions of a class of semilinear elliptic equations

In this paper, we show existence, uniqueness and exact asymptotic behavior of solutions near the boundary to a class of semilinear elliptic equations −Δu=λg(u)−b(x)f(u) in Ω, where λ is a real number, b(x)>0 in Ω and vanishes on ∂Ω. The special feature is to consider g(u) and f(u) to be regularly varying at infinity and b(x) is vanishing on the boundary with a more general rate function. The vanishing rate of b(x) determines the exact blow-up rate of the large solutions. And the exact blow-up rate allows us to obtain the uniqueness result.     

Large solutions of semilinear elliptic equations under the Keller-Osserman condition

We consider the equation Δu=p(x)f(u) where p is a nonnegative nontrivial continuous function and f is continuous and nondecreasing on [0,∞), satisfies f(0)=0, f(s)>0 for s>0 and the Keller-Osserman condition where . We establish conditions on the function p that are necessary and sufficient for the existence of positive solutions, bounded and unbounded, of the given equation.     

Lyapunov exponents of solutions to linear differential equations with periodic forcing functions

We give Lyapunov exponents of solutions to linear differential equations of the form x^′=Ax+f(t), where A is a complex matrix and f(t) is a τ-periodic continuous function. Notice that f(t) is not “small” as t→∞. The proof is essentially based on a representation [J. Kato, T. Naito, J.S. Shin, A characterization of solutions in linear differential equations with periodic forcing functions, J. Difference Equ. Appl. 11 (2005) 1-19] of solutions to the above equation.     

The existence and nonexistence of entire positive solutions of semilinear elliptic systems with gradient term

We show the existence and nonexistence of entire positive solutions for semilinear elliptic system with gradient term Δu+|∇u|=p(|x|)f(u,v), Δv+|∇v|=q(|x|)g(u,v) on RN, N?3, provided that nonlinearities f and g are positive and continuous, the potentials p and q are continuous, c-positive and satisfy appropriate growth conditions at infinity. We find that entire large positive solutions fail to exist if f and g are sublinear and p and q have fast decay at infinity, while if f and g satisfy some growth conditions at infinity, and p, q are of slow decay or fast decay at infinity, then the system has infinitely many entire solutions, which are large or bounded.     

Positive evanescent solutions of nonlinear elliptic equations

In this note we investigate the existence of positive solutions vanishing at +∞ to the elliptic equation Δu+f(x,u)+g(|x|)x⋅∇u=0, |x|>A>0, in Rn (n?3) under mild restrictions on the functions f, g.     

The holomorphic solutions of the generalized Dhombres functional equation

We study holomorphic solutions f of the generalized Dhombres equation f(zf(z))=φ(f(z)), z∈C, where φ is in the class E of entire functions. We show, that there is a nowhere dense set E₀⊂E such that for every φ∈E?E₀, any solution f vanishes at 0 and hence, satisfies the conditions for local analytic solutions with fixed point 0 from our recent paper. Consequently, we are able to provide a characterization of solutions in the typical case where φ∈E?E₀. We also show that for polynomial φ any holomorphic solution on C?{0} can be extended to the whole of C. Using this, in special cases like φ(z)=zk+1, k∈N, we can provide a characterization of the analytic solutions in C.     

On the mean oscillation of the Hessian of solutions to the Monge-Ampère equation

We give interior a priori estimates for the mean oscillation of second derivatives of solutions to the Monge-Ampère equation detD²u=f(x) with zero boundary values, where f(x) is a non-Dini continuous function. If the modulus of continuity of f(x) is φ(r) such that limr→0φ(r)log(1/r)=0, then D²u∈VMO.     

Ground state solutions for the singular Lane-Emden-Fowler equation with sublinear convection term

We are concerned with singular elliptic equations of the form −Δu=p(x)(g(u)+f(u)+a|∇u|) in RN (N?3), where p is a positive weight and 0<a<1. Under the hypothesis that f is a nondecreasing function with sublinear growth and g is decreasing and unbounded around the origin, we establish the existence of a ground state solution vanishing at infinity. Our arguments rely essentially on the maximum principle.     

Periodic solutions for wave equations with variable coefficients with nonlinear localized damping

We discuss the existence of periodic solutions to the wave equation with variable coefficients utt−div(A(x)∇u)+ρ(x,ut)=f(x,t) with Dirichlet boundary condition. Here ρ(x,v) is a function like ρ(x,v)=a(x)g(v) with g^′(v)?0 where a(x) is nonnegative, being positive only in a neighborhood of a part of the domain.     

Continuous on rays solutions of an equation of the Go?a?b-Schinzel type

Let X be a real linear space. We characterize continuous on rays solutions f,g:X→R of the equation f(x+g(x)y)=f(x)f(y). Our result refers to papers of J. Chudziak (2006) [14] and J. Brzd?k (2003) [11].     

On the almost automorphy of bounded solutions of differential equations with piecewise constant argument

In this paper we give sufficient spectral conditions for the almost automorphy of bounded solutions to differential equations with piecewise constant argument of the form x^′(t)=Ax([t])+f(t), t∈R, where A is a bounded linear operator in X and f is an X-valued almost automorphic function.     

Periodic solutions for a kind of Rayleigh equation with a deviating argument

In this paper, we use the coincidence degree theory to establish new results on the existence of T-periodic solutions for the Rayleigh equation with a deviating argument of the form

x^″+f(x^′(t))+g(t,x(t−τ(t)))=p(t).     

Existence and uniqueness of entire solutions for a reaction-diffusion equation

We consider entire solutions of u_t=u_xx-f(u), i.e. solutions that exist for all (x,t)∈R², where f(0)=f(1)=0<f^′(0). In particular, we are interested in the entire solutions which behave as two opposite wave fronts of positive speed(s) approaching each other from both sides of the x-axis and then annihilating in a finite time. In the case f^′(1)>0, we show that such entire solution exists and is unique up to space-time translations. In the case f^′(1)<0, we derive two families of such entire solutions. In the first family, one cannot be any space-time translation of the other. Yet all entire solutions in the second family only differ by a space-time translation.     

The pexiderized Go?a?b-Schinzel functional equation

Let X be a linear space over a commutative field K. We characterize a general solution f,g,h,k:X→K of the pexiderized Go?a?b-Schinzel equation f(x+g(x)y)=h(x)k(y), as well as real continuous solutions of the equation.     

A note on positive evanescent solutions for a certain class of elliptic problems

This paper is devoted to the existence and properties of solutions of the following class of nonlinear elliptic differential equations Δu(x)+f(x,u(x))+g(‖x‖)x⋅∇u(x)=0, x∈Rn, ‖x‖>R. We prove existence of positive solutions vanishing at positive infinity. Our approach is based on the subsolution and supersolution method. The nonlinearity f covers both sublinear and superlinear cases and does not necessarily satisfy f(x,0)≡0. The asymptotic behavior of solutions is also described.     

Positive solutions for Dirichlet problems of singular nonlinear fractional differential equations

In this paper, we investigate the existence of positive solutions for the singular fractional boundary value problem: Dαu(t)+f(t,u(t),Dμu(t))=0, u(0)=u(1)=0, where 1<α<2, 0<μ?α−1, Dα is the standard Riemann-Liouville fractional derivative, f is a positive Carathéodory function and f(t,x,y) is singular at x=0. By means of a fixed point theorem on a cone, the existence of positive solutions is obtained. The proofs are based on regularization and sequential techniques.     

Large time behavior of solutions to degenerate parabolic equations with weights

We study the degenerate parabolic equation t_∂u=a(δ(x))upΔu−g(u) in Ω×(0,∞), where Ω⊂RN (N?1) is a smooth bounded domain, p?1, δ(x)=dist(x,∂Ω) and a is a continuous nondecreasing function such that a(0)=0. Under some suitable assumptions on a and g we prove the existence and the uniqueness of a classical solution and we study its asymptotic behavior as t→∞.     

Global existence of solution of Cauchy problem for nonlinear pseudo-parabolic equation

In this paper, we prove that the Cauchy problem for the nonlinear pseudo-parabolic equation

vt−αvxxt−βvxx+γvx+fx(v)=φx(vx)+g(v)−αg(v)_xx     

On operations in C(X) determined by continuous functions

Let C(X) be the space of all continuous real-valued functions on a compact topological space. Then every continuous function $\varphi: {\mathbb{R}^{2}\to \mathbb{R}}$ defines an operation Φ:C(X)×C(X)→C(X), Φ(f,g)(x)=φ(f(x),g(x)) for x∈X. We show some sufficient and some necessary conditions for the openness and the weak openness of Φ.