The null controllability of thermoelastic plates and singularity of the associated minimal energy function

We consider the null controllability problem for thermoelastic plates, defined on a two dimensional domain Ω, and subject to hinged, clamped or free boundary conditions. The uncontrolled partial differential equation system generates an analytic semigroup on the space of finite energy. Consequently, the concept of null controllability is indeed appropriate for consideration here. It is shown that all finite energy states can be driven to zero by means of just one L2((0,T)×Ω) control be it either mechanical or thermal. The singularity, as T↓0, of the associated minimal energy function is the main object studied in the paper. Singularity and blow-up rates for minimal energy function are not only of interest in their own right but are also of critical importance in Stochastic PDEs. In this paper, we establish the optimal blow-up rate for this function. It is shown that the rate of singularity is the same as for finite-dimensional truncations of the model. In view of sharp estimates available in the finite dimensional setting [Math. Control Signals Systems 9 (1997) 327], the singularity rates provided in this paper are optimal.     

Null controllability of a class of Newtonian filtration equations

In this paper, we study the null controllability of a class of Newtonian filtration equations. Using the properties of finite extinction time and finite speed of propagation, we construct a control function in feedback form, such that system is exactly null controllable at any time T>0. If we put a nonnegative constraint on the control function, this system is not exactly null controllable any more, but approximately null controllable for a long time.     

Spectral controllability for 2D and 3D linear Schrödinger equations

We consider a quantum particle in an infinite square potential well of Rn, n=2,3, subjected to a control which is a uniform (in space) electric field. Under the dipolar moment approximation, the wave function solves a PDE of Schrödinger type. We study the spectral controllability in finite time of the linearized system around the ground state. We characterize one necessary condition for spectral controllability in finite time: (Kal) if Ω is the bottom of the well, then for every eigenvalue λ of , the projections of the dipolar moment onto every (normalized) eigenvector associated to λ are linearly independent in Rn. In 3D, our main result states that spectral controllability in finite time never holds for one-directional dipolar moment. The proof uses classical results from trigonometric moment theory and properties about the set of zeros of entire functions. In 2D, we first prove the existence of a minimal time Tmin(Ω)>0 for spectral controllability, i.e., if T>Tmin(Ω), one has spectral controllability in time T if condition (Kal) holds true for (Ω) and, if T<Tmin(Ω) and the dipolar moment is one-directional, then one does not have spectral controllability in time T. We next characterize a necessary and sufficient condition on the dipolar moment insuring that spectral controllability in time T>Tmin(Ω) holds generically with respect to the domain. The proof relies on shape differentiation and a careful study of Dirichlet-to-Neumann operators associated to certain Helmholtz equations. We also show that one can recover exact controllability in abstract spaces from this 2D spectral controllability, by adapting a classical variational argument from control theory.     

Controllability cost of conservative systems: resolvent condition and transmutation

This article concerns the exact controllability of unitary groups on Hilbert spaces with unbounded control operator. It provides a necessary and sufficient condition not involving time which blends a resolvent estimate and an observability inequality. By the transmutation of controls in some time L for the corresponding second-order conservative system, it is proved that the cost of controls in time T for the unitary group grows at most like exp(αL²/T) as T tends to 0. In the application to the cost of fast controls for the Schrödinger equation, L is the length of the longest ray of geometric optics which does not intersect the control region. This article also provides observability resolvent estimates implying fast smoothing effect controllability at low cost, and underscores that the controllability cost of a system is not changed by taking its tensor product with a conservative system.     

On the null controllability of a one-dimensional fluid–solid interaction model

We analyze the null controllability of a one-dimensional nonlinear system which models the interaction of a fluid and a particle. The fluid is governed by the Burgers equation and the control is exerted on the boundary points. We present two main results: the global null controllability of a linearized system and the local null controllability of the nonlinear original model. The proofs rely on appropriate global Carleman inequalities and fixed point arguments. To cite this article: A. Doubova, E. Fernández-Cara, C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris, Ser. I 337 (2003).     

Null Controllability with Constraints on the State for the Semilinear Heat Equation

We consider a null controllability problem for the semilinear heat equation with finite number of constraints on the state. Interpreting each constraint by means of adjoint state notion, we transform the linearized problem into an equivalent linear problem of null controllability with constraint on the control. Using inequalities of observability adapted to the constraint, we solve the equivalent problem. Then, by a fixed-point method, we prove the main result.     

One-sided exact boundary null controllability of entropy solutions to a class of hyperbolic systems of conservation laws

In this paper, the one-sided exact boundary null controllability of entropy solutions is studied for a class of general strictly hyperbolic systems of conservation laws, whose negative (or positive) characteristic families are all linearly degenerate. The authors first prove the well-posedness of semi-global solutions constructed as the limit of ε-approximate front tracking solutions to the mixed initial-boundary value problem with general nonlinear boundary conditions and they establish various properties of both the ε-approximate front tracking solutions and such solutions. By means of essential modifications of the strategy suggested by the first author in [17] originally for the local exact boundary controllability in the framework of classical solutions, the one-sided local exact boundary null controllability of entropy solutions can then be realized via boundary controls acting on one side of the boundary, where the incoming characteristics are all linearly degenerate.     

On the controllability of the heat equation with nonlinear boundary Fourier conditions

In this paper we analyze the approximate and null controllability of the classical heat equation with nonlinear boundary conditions of the form and distributed controls, with support in a small set. We show that, when the function f is globally Lipschitz-continuous, the system is approximately controllable. We also show that the system is locally null controllable and null controllable for large time when f is regular enough and f(0)=0. For the proofs of these assertions, we use controllability results for similar linear problems and appropriate fixed point arguments. In the case of the local and large time null controllability results, the arguments are rather technical, since they need (among other things) Hölder estimates for the control and the state.     

Insensitizing controls for a large-scale ocean circulation model

We consider here a linear quasi-geostrophic ocean model. We look for controls insensitizing (resp. ε-insensitizing) an observation function of the state. The existence of such controls is equivalent to a null controllability property (resp. an approximate controllability property) for a cascade Stokes-like system. Under reasonable assumptions on the spatial domains where the observation and the control are performed, we are able to prove these properties. To cite this article: E. Fernández-Cara et al., C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris, Ser. I 337 (2003).     

Regional controllability of semilinear degenerate parabolic equations in bounded domains

In this paper we study controllability properties of semilinear degenerate parabolic equations. Due to degeneracy, classical null controllability results do not hold in general. Thus we investigate results of ‘regional null controllability’, showing that we can drive the solution to rest at time T on a subset of the space domain, contained in the set where the equation is nondegenerate.     

Bang-bang principle of time optimal controls and null controllability of fractional order parabolic equations

In this paper, we establish a bang-bang principle of time optimal controls for a controlled parabolic equation of fractional order evolved in a bounded domain Ω of R^n, with a controller w to be any given nonempty open subset of Ω. The problem is reduced to a new controllability property for this equation, i.e. the null controllability of the system at any given time T 〉 0 when the control is restricted to be active in ω× E, where E is any given subset of [0, T] with positive （Legesgue） measure. The desired controllability result is established by means of a sharp observability estimate on the eigenfunctions of the Dirichlet Laplacian due to Lebeau and Robbiano, and a delicate result in the measure theory due to Lions.     

Remarks on exact controllability for Stokes and Navier–Stokes systems

This Note deals with the controllability of Stokes and Navier–Stokes systems with distributed controls with support in possibly small subdomains. We first present a new global Carleman inequality for the solutions to Stokes-like systems that leads to the null controllability at any time T>0. Then, we present a local result concerning exact controllability to trajectories of the Navier–Stokes system. To cite this article: E. Fernández-Cara et al., C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris, Ser. I 338 (2004).     

Nulle contrôlabilité régionale d'une équation de type Crocco linéariséeRegional null controllability of a linearized Crocco type equation

We are interested in controllability problems of equations coming from a boundary layer model. This problem is described by a degenerate parabolic equation (a linearized Crocco type equation) where phenomena of diffusion and transport are coupled.First we give a geometric characterization of the influence domain of a locally distributed control. Then we prove regional null controllability results on this domain. The proof is based on an adequate observability inequality for the homogeneous adjoint problem. This inequality is obtained by decomposition of the space–time domain and Carleman type estimates along characteristics. To cite this article: P. Martinez et al., C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris, Ser. I 334 (2002) 581–584.     

On the lack of exact controllability for mild solutions in Banach spaces

It is shown that exact controllability in finite time for linear control systems given on an infinite dimensional separable Banach space in integral form (mild solution) can never arise using locally L₁-controls, if the operator through which the control acts on the system is compact. This improves a previous result of the author, by removing the assumption that the state space have a basis. It is suggested by the recent discovery that a separable Banach space need not have a basis.     

The Dirac Operator of a Commuting d-Tuple

Given a commuting d-tuple T=(T₁, …, T_d) of otherwise arbitrary operators on a Hilbert space, there is an associated Dirac operator D_T. Significant attributes of the d-tuple are best expressed in terms of D_T, including the Taylor spectrum and the notion of Fredholmness. In fact, all properties of T derive from its Dirac operator. We introduce a general notion of Dirac operator (in dimension d=1, 2, …) that is appropriate for multivariable operator theory. We show that every abstract Dirac operator is associated with a commuting d-tuple, and that two Dirac operators are isomorphic iff their associated operator d-tuples are unitarily equivalent. By relating the curvature invariant introduced in a previous paper to the index of a Dirac operator, we establish a stability result for the curvature invariant for pure d -contractions of finite rank. It is shown that for the subcategory of all such T that are (a) Fredholm and and (b) graded, the curvature invariant K(T) is stable under compact perturbations. We do not know if this stability persists when T is Fredholm but ungraded, although there is concrete evidence that it does.     

Uniform controllability properties for space/time-discretized parabolic equations

This article is concerned with the analysis of semi-discrete-in-space and fully-discrete approximations of the null controllability (and controllability to the trajectories) for parabolic equations. We propose an abstract setting for space discretizations that potentially encompasses various numerical methods and we study how the controllability problems depend on the discretization parameters. For time discretization we use θ-schemes with \({\theta \in [\frac{1}2,1]}\) . For the proofs of controllability we rely on the strategy introduced by Lebeau and Robbiano (Comm Partial Differ Equ 20:335–356, 1995) for the null-controllability of the heat equation, which is based on a spectral inequality. We obtain relaxed uniform observability estimates in both the semi-discrete and fully-discrete frameworks, and associated uniform controllability properties. For the practical computation of the control functions we follow J.-L. Lions’ Hilbert Uniqueness Method strategy, exploiting the relaxed uniform observability estimate. Algorithms for the computation of the controls are proposed and analysed in the semi-discrete and fully-discrete cases. Additionally, we prove an error bound between the fully discrete and the semi-discrete control functions. This bound is however not uniform with respect to the space discretization. The theoretical results are illustrated through numerical experimentations.     

Strichartz type estimates and the well-posedness of an energy critical 2D wave equation in a bounded domain

We study the well-posedness of the Cauchy problem with Dirichlet or Neumann boundary conditions associated to an H¹-critical semilinear wave equation on a smooth bounded domain Ω⊂R². First, we prove an appropriate Strichartz type estimate using the Lq spectral projector estimates of the Laplace operator. Our proof follows Burq, Lebeau and Planchon (2008) [4]. Then, we show the global well-posedness when the energy is below or at the threshold given by the sharp Moser-Trudinger inequality. Finally, in the supercritical case, we prove an instability result using the finite speed of propagation and a quantitative study of the associated ODE with oscillatory data.     

Factorizing operators on Banach function spaces through spaces of multiplication operators

In order to extend the theory of optimal domains for continuous operators on a Banach function space X(μ) over a finite measure μ, we consider operators T satisfying other type of inequalities than the one given by the continuity which occur in several well-known factorization theorems (for instance, Pisier Factorization Theorem through Lorentz spaces, pth-power factorable operators …). We prove that such a T factorizes through a space of multiplication operators which can be understood in a certain sense as the optimal domain for T. Our extended optimal domain technique does not need necessarily the equivalence between μ and the measure defined by the operator T and, by using δ-rings, μ is allowed to be infinite. Classical and new examples and applications of our results are also given, including some new results on the Hardy operator and a factorization theorem through Hilbert spaces.     

Orthogonal and Skew-Symmetric Operators in Real Hilbert Space

In the theory of traces on operator ideals, it is desirable to treat not only the complex case. Several proofs become much easier when the underlying operators are represented by real matrices. Motivated by this observation, we prove two theorems which, to the best of our knowledge, are not available in the real setting: (1) every operator is a finite linear combination of orthogonal operators, and (2) every skew-symmetric compact operator S is a commutator [A, T], where certain properties of S are inherited to T. In our opinion, theses results are interesting for their own sake. They will also be used in future studies of trace theory by the second-named author.