A topological characterization of the existence of fixed points and applications

We prove a topological two‐way characterization of the existence of fixed‐points, without using linear or convexity structures and provide applications in optimization‐related problems. Such a characterization is also demonstrated for a fixed‐component point, a slight generalization of a fixed point.     

Dirichlet regularity in arbitrary o‐minimal structures on the field ℝ up to dimension 4

In this article we show that the set of Dirichlet regular boundary points of a bounded domain of dimension up to 4, definable in an arbitrary o‐minimal structure on the field ?, is definable in the same structure. Moreover we give estimates for the dimension of the set of non‐regular boundary points, depending on whether the structure is polynomially bounded or not. This paper extends the results from the author's Ph.D. thesis [6, 7] where the problem was solved for polynomially bounded o‐minimal structures expanding the real field. (© 2006 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

A general bilinear form to generate different wave structures of solitons for a (3+1)‐dimensional Boiti‐Leon‐Manna‐Pempinelli equation

In this paper, we investigate a (3+1)‐dimensional Boiti‐Leon‐Manna‐Pempinelli equation (3D‐BMLP). By using bilinear forms under certain conditions, we obtain different wave structures for the 3D‐BMLP. Among these waves, lump waves, breather waves, mixed waves, and multi‐soliton wave solutions are constructed. The propagation and the dynamical behavior of the obtained solutions are discussed for different values of the free parameters.     

Well‐posedness of a parabolic free boundary problem driven by diffusion and surface tension

Well‐posedness and regularity results are shown for a class of free boundary problems consisting of diffusion on a free domain where the boundary movement depends on its mean curvature of the boundary and the diffusion on the boundary, and initial conditions are radially symmetric. Short‐time existence and uniqueness of solutions in a suitable Sobolev space are shown using a fixed‐point argument. Higher regularity is a posteriori. Finally, it is shown that solutions exist globally in time and converge to equilibrium if the boundary movement depends on the mean curvature of the boundary and diffusion in a specific way. A mathematical model describing the swelling of a cell due to osmosis is treated as an example. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Existence of three solutions for a Neumann problem involving the p(x)‐Laplace operator

In this paper, we study the existence of three solutions to a Neumann problem with nonstandard growth conditions. The technical approach is mainly based on three critical points theorem due to Ricceri. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Spatial behaviour of solutions of the dual‐phase‐lag heat equation

In this paper we study the spatial behaviour of solutions of some problems for the dual‐phase‐lag heat equation on a semi‐infinite cylinder. The theory of dual‐phase‐lag heat conduction leads to a hyperbolic partial differential equation with a third derivative with respect to time. First, we investigate the spatial evolution of solutions of an initial boundary‐value problem with zero boundary conditions on the lateral surface of the cylinder. Under a boundedness restriction on the initial data, an energy estimate is obtained. An upper bound for the amplitude term in this estimate in terms of the initial and boundary data is also established. For the case of zero initial conditions, a more explicit estimate is obtained which shows that solutions decay exponentially along certain spatial‐time lines. A class of non‐standard problems is also considered for which the temperature and its first two time derivatives at a fixed time T are assumed proportional to their initial values. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Extremal solutions for p‐Laplacian boundary value problems with the right‐handed Riemann‐Liouville fractional derivative

The paper is concerned with the solvability for several nonlinear boundary value problems of fractional p‐Laplacian differential equation involving the right‐handed Riemann‐Liouville derivative. By applying monotone iterative technique, lower and upper solutions method and the Banach fixed point theorem, sufficient conditions for existence and uniqueness of extremal solutions are obtained and they extend existing results. At last, two examples are provided to illustrate the results.     

Symmetric low‐rank corrections to quadratic models

In this paper, we study the quadratic model updating problems by using symmetric low‐rank correcting, which incorporates the measured model data into the analytical quadratic model to produce an adjusted model that matches the experimental model data, and minimizes the distance between the analytical and updated models. We give a necessary and sufficient condition on the existence of solutions to the symmetric low‐rank correcting problems under some mild conditions, and propose two algorithms for finding approximate solutions to the corresponding optimization problems. The good performance of the two algorithms is illustrated by numerical examples. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On the global weak solutions for a modified two‐component Camassa‐Holm equation

In this paper, we investigate the existence of global weak solutions to the Cauchy problem of a modified two‐component Camassa‐Holm equation with the initial data satisfying lim_{x → ±∞}u₀(x) = u_±. By perturbing the Cauchy problem around a rarefaction wave, we obtain a global weak solution for the system under the assumption u_? ≤ u₊. The global weak solution is obtained as a limit of approximation solutions. The key elements in our analysis are the Helly theorem and the estimation of energy for approximation solutions in $H^1(\mathbb {R})\times H^1(\mathbb {R})In this paper, we investigate the existence of global weak solutions to the Cauchy problem of a modified two‐component Camassa‐Holm equation with the initial data satisfying lim_{x → ±∞}u₀(x) = u_±. By perturbing the Cauchy problem around a rarefaction wave, we obtain a global weak solution for the system under the assumption u_? ≤ u₊. The global weak solution is obtained as a limit of approximation solutions. The key elements in our analysis are the Helly theorem and the estimation of energy for approximation solutions in $H^1(\mathbb {R})\times H^1(\mathbb {R})$ and some a priori estimates on the first‐order derivatives of approximation solutions.     

Numerical methods for fourth‐order nonlinear elliptic boundary value problems

The aim of this article is to present several computational algorithms for numerical solutions of a nonlinear finite difference system that represents a finite difference approximation of a class of fourth‐order elliptic boundary value problems. The numerical algorithms are based on the method of upper and lower solutions and its associated monotone iterations. Three linear monotone iterative schemes are given, and each iterative scheme yields two sequences, which converge monotonically from above and below, respectively, to a maximal solution and a minimal solution of the finite difference system. This monotone convergence property leads to upper and lower bounds of the solution in each iteration as well as an existence‐comparison theorem for the finite difference system. Sufficient conditions for the uniqueness of the solution and some techniques for the construction of upper and lower solutions are obtained, and numerical results for a two‐point boundary‐value problem with known analytical solution are given. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 17:347–368, 2001     

Dynamical behavior of fractional‐order energy‐saving and emission‐reduction system and its discretization

This paper attempts to explore dynamical behavior and mathematical properties of the three‐dimensional fractional‐order energy‐saving and emission‐reduction system. Theoretically, the conditions of local stability of fractional‐order system's equilibrium points are obtained. Numerical investigations on the dynamics of this system are carried out, and the existence of the asymptotically stable attractor is found. Combined with the fractional‐order subsystem, we discuss the relationship between energy‐saving and emission‐reduction and economic growth, and carbon emissions and economic growth. Furthermore, we discretize the fractional‐order system and give necessary and sufficient conditions of its stabilization. It is shown that the stability of the discretization system is impacted by the system's fractional parameter. Numerical simulations show the richer dynamical behavior of the fractional‐order system and verify the theoretical results. Recommendations for Resource Managers

• The impact of carbon emissions on economic growth is one of the main reasons for energy‐saving and emission‐reduction.
• Control measures on people's low‐carbon life through government intervention are required to protect the natural environment.
• New energy‐saving and emission‐reduction technologies should be implemented to achieve sustainable social and economic development.

     

Unique solvability for the density‐dependent non‐Newtonian compressible fluids with vacuum

The paper is devoted to the existence and uniqueness of local solutions for the density‐dependent non‐Newtonian compressible fluids with vacuum in one‐dimensional bounded intervals. The important points in this paper are that the initial density may vanish in an open subset and the viscosity coefficient is nonlinearly dependent of density and shear rate.     

A quasi‐static boundary value problem in multi‐surface elastoplasticity: part 2—numerical solution

Multi‐yield elastoplasticity models a material with more than one plastic state and hence allows for refined approximation of irreversible deformations. Aspects of the mathematical modelling and a proof of unique existence of weak solutions can be found in part I of this paper (Math. Models Methods Appl. Sci. 2004). In this part II we establish a canonical time–space discretization of the evolution problem and present various algorithms for the solving really discrete problems. Based on a global Newton–Raphson solver, we carefully study and solve elementwise inner iterations. Numerical examples illustrate the model and its flexibility to allow for refined hysteresis curves. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Existence and stability of traveling wave solutions to one‐sided mixed initial‐boundary value problem for first‐order quasilinear hyperbolic systems

When one characteristic of the system is linearly degenerate, under suitable boundary conditions, we get the existence of traveling wave solutions located on the corresponding characteristic trajectory to the one‐sided mixed initial‐boundary value problem. When the system is linearly degenerate, by introducing the semi‐global normalized coordinates, we derive the related formulas of wave decomposition to prove the stability of traveling wave solutions corresponding to all leftward and the rightmost characteristic trajectories. Finally, for the traveling wave solutions corresponding to other rightward characteristic trajectories, some examples show their possible instability. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Detecting change points in the stress‐strength reliability P(X < Y)

We address the statistical problem of detecting change points in the stress‐strength reliability R=P(X<Y) in a sequence of paired variables (X,Y). Without specifying their underlying distributions, we embed this nonparametric problem into a parametric framework and apply the maximum likelihood method via a dynamic programming approach to determine the locations of the change points in R. Under some mild conditions, we show the consistency and asymptotic properties of the procedure to locate the change points. Simulation experiments reveal that, in comparison with existing parametric and nonparametric change‐point detection methods, our proposed method performs well in detecting both single and multiple change points in R in terms of the accuracy of the location estimation and the computation time. Applications to real data demonstrate the usefulness of our proposed methodology for detecting the change points in the stress‐strength reliability R. Supplementary materials are available online.     

Interaction of faults under slip‐dependent friction. Non‐linear eigenvalue analysis

We analyse the evolution of a system of finite faults by considering the non‐linear eigenvalue problems associated to static and dynamic solutions on unbounded domains. We restrict our investigation to the first eigenvalue (Rayleigh quotient). We point out its physical significance through a stability analysis and we give an efficient numerical algorithm able to compute it together with the corresponding eigenfunction. We consider the anti‐plane shearing on a system of finite faults under a slip‐dependent friction in a linear elastic domain, not necessarily bounded. The static problem is formulated in terms of local minima of the energy functional. We introduce the non‐linear (static) eigenvalue problem and we prove the existence of a first eigenvalue/eigenfunction characterizing the isolated local minima. For the dynamic problem, we discuss the existence of solutions with an exponential growth, to deduce a (dynamic) non‐linear eigenvalue problem. We prove the existence of a first dynamic eigenvalue and we analyse its behaviour with respect to the friction parameter. We deduce a mixed finite element discretization of the non‐linear spectral problem and we give a numerical algorithm to approach the first eigenvalue/eigenfunction. Finally we give some numerical results which include convergence tests, on a single fault and a two‐faults system, and a comparison between the non‐linear spectral results and the time evolution results. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Galerkin method for optimal control of second‐order evolution equations

This paper presents the Galerkin approximation of the optimization problem of a system governed by non‐linear second‐order evolution equation where a non‐linear operator depends on derivative of the state of the system. The control is acting on a non‐linear equation. After giving some results on the existence of optimal control we shall prove the existence of the weak and strong condensation points of a set of solutions of the approximate optimization problems. Each of these points is a solution of the initial optimization problem. Finally we shall give a simple example using the obtained results. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Local and blowing‐up solutions for a space‐time fractional evolution system with nonlinearities of exponential growth

Local and blowing‐up solutions for the Cauchy problem for a system of space and time fractional evolution equations with time‐nonlocal nonlinearities of exponential growth are considered. The existence and uniqueness of the local mild solution is assured by the Banach fixed point principle. Then, we establish a blow‐up result by Pokhozhaev capacity method. Finally, under some suitable conditions, an estimate of the life span of blowing‐up solutions is established.     

The lower bounds of life span of classical solutions to one‐dimensional initial‐Neumann boundary value problems for general quasilinear wave equations

In this paper, we will study the lower bounds of the life span (the maximal existence time) of solutions to the initial‐boundary value problems with small initial data and zero Neumann boundary data on exterior domain for one‐dimensional general quasilinear wave equations u_tt?u_xx=b(u,Du)u_xx+F(u,Du). Our lower bounds of the life span of solutions in the general case and special case are shorter than that of the initial‐Dirichlet boundary value problem for one‐dimensional general quasilinear wave equations. We clarify that although the lower bounds in this paper are same as that in the case of Robin boundary conditions obtained in the earlier paper, however, the results in this paper are not the trivial generalization of that in the case of Robin boundary conditions because the fundamental Lemmas 2.4, 2.5, 2.6, and 2.7, that is, the priori estimates of solutions to initial‐boundary value problems with Neumann boundary conditions, are established differently, and then the specific estimates in this paper are different from that in the case of Robin boundary conditions. Another motivation for the author to write this paper is to show that the well‐posedness of problem 1.1 is the essential precondition of studying the lower bounds of life span of classical solutions to initial‐boundary value problems for general quasilinear wave equations. The lower bound estimates of life span of classical solutions to initial‐boundary value problems is consistent with the actual physical meaning. Finally, we obtain the sharpness on the lower bound of the life span 1.8 in the general case and 1.10 in the special case. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Global existence of solutions for non‐small data to non‐linear spherically symmetric thermoviscoelasticity

We consider some initial–boundary value problems for non‐linear equations of thermoviscoelasticity in the three‐dimensional case. Since, we are interested to prove global existence we consider spherically symmetric problem. We examine the Neumann conditions for the temperature and either the Neumann or the Dirichlet boundary conditions for the elasticity equations. Using the energy method, we are able to obtain some energy estimates in appropriate Sobolev spaces enough to prove existence for all time without any restrictions on data. Due to the spherical symmetricity the constants in the above estimates increase with time so the existence for all finite times is proved only. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.