Hair-triggered instability of radial steady states, spread and extinction in semilinear heat equations

We first study the initial value problem for a general semilinear heat equation. We prove that every bounded nonconstant radial steady state is unstable if the spatial dimension is low (n?10) or if the steady state is flat enough at infinity: the solution of the heat equation either becomes unbounded as t approaches the lifespan, or eventually stays above or below another bounded radial steady state, depending on if the initial value is above or below the first steady state; moreover, the second steady state must be a constant if n?10.Using this instability result, we then prove that every nonconstant radial steady state of the generalized Fisher equation is a hair-trigger for two kinds of dynamical behavior: extinction and spreading. We also prove more criteria on initial values for these types of behavior. Similar results for a reaction-diffusion system modeling an isothermal autocatalytic chemical reaction are also obtained.     

Bounded components of positive solutions of abstract fixed point equations: mushrooms, loops and isolas

In this work a general class of nonlinear abstract equations satisfying a generalized strong maximum principle is considered in order to study the behavior of the bounded components of positive solutions bifurcating from the curve of trivial states (λ,u)=(λ,0) at a nonlinear eigenvalue λ=λ₀ with geometric multiplicity one. Since the unilateral theorems of Rabinowitz (J. Funct. Anal. 7 (1971) 487, Theorems 1.27 and 1.40) are not true as originally stated (cf. the very recent counterexample of Dancer, Bull. London Math. Soc. 34 (2002) 533), in order to get our main results the unilateral theorem of López-Gómez (Spectral Theory and Nonlinear Functional Analysis, Research Notes in Mathematics, vol. 426, CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, 2001, Theorem 6.4.3) is required. Our analysis fills some serious gaps existing is some published papers that were provoked by a direct use of Rabinowitz's unilateral theory. Actually, the abstract theory developed in this paper cannot be covered with the pioneering results of Rabinowitz (1971), since in Rabinowitz's context any component of positive solutions must be unbounded, by a celebrated result attributable to Dancer (Arch. Rational Mech. Anal. 52 (1973) 181).     

Sur certains problèmes elliptiques asymétriques avec poids indéfinis

We prove the existence of a first nontrivial eigenvalue for the problem (1.2) below. As applications we study the solvability of (1.1) below as well as the Fučik spectrum with weights for the p-Laplacien.     

Global attractors in stronger norms for a class of parabolic systems with nonlinear boundary conditions

For a class of quasilinear parabolic systems with nonlinear Robin boundary conditions we construct a compact local solution semiflow in a nonlinear phase space of high regularity. We further show that a priori estimates in lower norms are sufficient for the existence of a global attractor in this phase space. The approach relies on maximal L_p-regularity with temporal weights for the linearized problem. An inherent smoothing effect due to the weights is employed for obtaining gradient estimates. In several applications we can improve the convergence to an attractor by one regularity level.     

On a class of critical singular quasilinear elliptic problem with indefinite weights

In this paper, the eigenvalue problem for a class of quasilinear elliptic equations involving critical potential and indefinite weights is investigated. We obtain the simplicity, strict monotonicity and isolation of the first eigenvalue λ₁. Furthermore, because of the isolation of λ₁, we prove the existence of the second eigenvalue λ₂. Then, using the Trudinger-Moser inequality, we obtain the existence of a nontrivial weak solution for a class of quasilinear elliptic equations involving critical singularity and indefinite weights in the case of 0<λ<λ₁ by the Mountain Pass Lemma, and in the case of λ₁≤λ<λ₂ by the Linking Argument Theorem.     

Best constant in critical Sobolev inequalities of second-order in the presence of symmetries

Let (M,g) be a smooth compact Riemannian manifold. We first give the value of the best first constant for the critical embedding H²(M)?L^2?(M) for second-order Sobolev spaces of functions invariant by some subgroup of the isometry group of (M,g). We also prove that we can take ?=0 in the corresponding inequality under some geometric assumptions. As an application we give a sufficient condition for the existence of a smooth positive symmetric solution to a critical equation with a symmetric Paneitz-Branson-type operator. A sufficient condition for the existence of a nodal solution to such an equation is also derived. We eventually prove a multiplicity result for such an equation.     

A necessary and a sufficient condition for the existence of the positive radial solutions to Hessian equations and systems with weights

In this article, we consider the existence of positive radial solutions for Hessian equations and systems with weights and we give a necessary condition as well as a sufficient condition for a positive radial solution to be large. The method of proving theorems is essentially based on a successive approximation technique. Our results complete and improve a work published recently by Zhang and Zhou(existence of entire positive k-convex radial solutions to Hessian equations and systems with weights. Applied Mathematics Letters,Volume 50, December 2015, Pages 48–55).     

A blow-up criterion for 3D compressible viscoelastic flow with large initial data

In this paper, we consider a Cauchy problem for the three-dimensional compressible viscoelastic flow with large initial data. We establish a blow-up criterion for the strong solutions in terms of the gradient of velocity only, which is similar to the Beale-Kato-Majda criterion for ideal incompressible flow (cf. Beale et al. (1984) [20]) and the blow-up criterion for the compressible Navier-Stokes equations (cf. Huang et al. (2011) [21]).     

Matroid matching in pseudomodular lattices

The matroid matching problem (also known as matroid parity problem) has been intensively studied by several authors. Starting from very special problems, in particular the matching problem and the matroid intersection problem, good characterizations have been obtained for more and more general classes of matroids. The two most recent ones are the class of representable matroids and, later on, the class of algebraic matroids (cf. [4] and [2]). We present a further step of generalization, showing that a good characterization can also be obtained for the class of socalled pseudomodular matroids, introduced by Björner and Lovász (cf. [1]). A small counterexample is included to show that pseudomodularity still does not cover all matroids that behave well with respect to matroid matching.Supported by the German Research Association (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, SFB 303).     

Eigenvalue inequalities for the p-Laplacian on a Riemannian manifold and estimates for the heat kernel

In this paper, we successfully generalize the eigenvalue comparison theorem for the Dirichlet p  -Laplacian (1<p<∞$1<p<\infty$) obtained by Matei (2000) [19] and Takeuchi (1998) [22], respectively. Moreover, we use this generalized eigenvalue comparison theorem to get estimates for the first eigenvalue of the Dirichlet p-Laplacian of geodesic balls on complete Riemannian manifolds with radial Ricci curvature bounded from below w.r.t. some point. In the rest of this paper, we derive an upper and lower bound for the heat kernel of geodesic balls of complete manifolds with specified curvature constraints, which can supply new ways to prove the most part of two generalized eigenvalue comparison results given by Freitas, Mao and Salavessa (2013) [9].     

Nagata's conjecture and countably compact hulls in generic extensions

Nagata conjectured that every M-space is homeomorphic to a closed subspace of the product of a countably compact space and a metric space. Although this conjecture was refuted by Burke and van Douwen, and A. Kato, independently, but we can show that there is a c.c.c. poset P of size ω² such that in VP Nagata's conjecture holds for each first countable regular space from the ground model (i.e. if a first countable regular space X∈V is an M-space in VP then it is homeomorphic to a closed subspace of the product of a countably compact space and a metric space in VP). By a result of Morita, it is enough to show that every first countable regular space from the ground model has a first countable countably compact extension in VP. As a corollary, we also obtain that every first countable regular space from the ground model has a maximal first countable extension in model VP.     

A nonlinear parabolic problem from combustion theory: attractors and stability

A parabolic (convection-diffusion) problem in a half-line, arising when modeling the temperature profile of an adiabatic solid in radiation-driven combustion, is considered. Both the coefficient in the “convective” term (the velocity of the burning front) and the Neumann datum (the prescribed heat influx into the burning body) are nonlinearly related to the proper value of the solution at the boundary. In addition, the velocity is allowed to vanish below some threshold value. Under the main assumptions of “intensely irradiated boundary” and initial data that behave suitably as x→-∞, it is proven that there exists a global attractor for the evolution semigroup associated with the problem. Furthermore, the stabilization of all solutions towards the equilibrium solution (a uniformly propagating front) is derived for a class of Neumann data, which are of some interest for applications.     

Fusion and large cardinal preservation

In this paper we introduce some fusion properties of forcing notions which guarantee that an iteration with supports of size ?κ   not only does not collapse κ⁺${\kappa }^{+}$ but also preserves the strength of κ (after a suitable preparatory forcing). This provides a general theory covering the known cases of tree iterations which preserve large cardinals (cf. Dobrinen and Friedman (2010) [3], Friedman and Halilovi? (2011) [5], Friedman and Honzik (2008) [6], Friedman and Magidor (2009) [8], Friedman and Zdomskyy (2010) [10], Honzik (2010) [12]).     

Heavy cycles in k-connected weighted graphs with large weighted degree sums

A weighted graph is one in which every edge e is assigned a nonnegative number w(e), called the weight of e. The weight of a cycle is defined as the sum of the weights of its edges. The weighted degree of a vertex is the sum of the weights of the edges incident with it. In this paper, we prove that: Let G be a k-connected weighted graph with k?2. Then G contains either a Hamilton cycle or a cycle of weight at least 2m/(k+1), if G satisfies the following conditions: (1) The weighted degree sum of any k+1 pairwise nonadjacent vertices is at least m; (2) In each induced claw and each induced modified claw of G, all edges have the same weight. This generalizes an early result of Enomoto et al. on the existence of heavy cycles in k-connected weighted graphs.     

Asymptotic behavior of a nonisothermal viscous Cahn-Hilliard equation with inertial term

We consider a differential model describing nonisothermal fast phase separation processes taking place in a three-dimensional bounded domain. This model consists of a viscous Cahn-Hilliard equation characterized by the presence of an inertial term χtt, χ being the order parameter, which is linearly coupled with an evolution equation for the (relative) temperature ?. The latter can be of hyperbolic type if the Cattaneo-Maxwell heat conduction law is assumed. The state variables and the chemical potential are subject to the homogeneous Neumann boundary conditions. We first provide conditions which ensure the well-posedness of the initial and boundary value problem. Then, we prove that the corresponding dynamical system is dissipative and possesses a global attractor. Moreover, assuming that the nonlinear potential is real analytic, we establish that each trajectory converges to a single steady state by using a suitable version of the ?ojasiewicz-Simon inequality. We also obtain an estimate of the decay rate to equilibrium.     

A quenching criterion for a multi-dimensional parabolic problem due to a concentrated nonlinear source

A multi-dimensional parabolic first initial-boundary value problem with a concentrated nonlinear source is studied. A criterion for its solution to quench, in a finite time t_q, everywhere on the concentrated nonlinear source only is given. An upper bound for t_q is also deduced. For illustration, an example is given.     

On decay and blow-up of the solution for a viscoelastic wave equation with boundary damping and source terms

In this paper we consider the decay and blow-up properties of a viscoelastic wave equation with boundary damping and source terms. We first extend the decay result (for the case of linear damping) obtained by Lu et al. (On a viscoelastic equation with nonlinear boundary damping and source terms: Global existence and decay of the solution, Nonlinear Analysis: Real World Applications 12 (1) (2011), 295-303) to the nonlinear damping case under weaker assumption on the relaxation function g(t). Then, we give an exponential decay result without the relation between g^′(t) and g(t) for the linear damping case, provided that ‖g‖_L¹(0,∞) is small enough. Finally, we establish two blow-up results: one is for certain solutions with nonpositive initial energy as well as positive initial energy for both the linear and nonlinear damping cases, the other is for certain solutions with arbitrarily positive initial energy for the linear damping case.     

Existence and multiplicity of solutions for Neumann problems

In this paper we examine semilinear and nonlinear Neumann problems with a nonsmooth locally Lipschitz potential function. Using variational methods based on the nonsmooth critical point theory, for the semilinear problem we prove a multiplicity result under conditions of double resonance at higher eigenvalues. Our proof involves a nonsmooth extension of the reduction method due to Castro-Lazer-Thews. The nonlinear problem is driven by the p-Laplacian. So first we make some observations about the beginning of the spectrum of (−Δp,W1,p(Z)). Then we prove an existence and multiplicity result. The existence result permits complete double resonance. The multiplicity result specialized in the semilinear case (i.e. p=2) corresponds to the super-sub quadratic situation.     

Regular sequences of minors

In this paper we give a partial answer to a question posed by Lazard concerning regular sequences of mi-nors of an m×n matrix, m ≤ n (cf. [4, Remarque 6] ). We prove, namely, that for m = 2 or m = n-2, all regularizable sequences of minors (cf. below for precise definitions) become in fact regular once we apply a suitable elementary transformation to the matrix.     

Multilinear estimates for periodic KdV equations, and applications

We prove an endpoint multilinear estimate for the X^s,b spaces associated to the periodic Airy equation. As a consequence we obtain sharp local well-posedness results for periodic generalized KdV equations, as well as some global well-posedness results below the energy norm.