Custom sandwich pairs

For many equations arising in practice, the solutions are critical points of functionals. In previous papers we have shown that there are pairs of subsets, called sandwich pairs, that can produce critical points even though they do not separate the functional. All that is required is that the functional be bounded from above on one of the sets and bounded from below on the other, with no relationship needed between the bounds. This provides a distinct advantage in applications. The present paper discusses the situation in which one cannot find sandwich pairs for which the functional is bounded below on one set and bounded above on the other. We develop a method which can deal with such situations and apply it to problems in partial differential equations.     

Relaxation and regularity in the calculus of variations

In this work we prove that, if L(t,u,ξ) is a continuous function in t and u, Borel measurable in ξ, with bounded non-convex pieces in ξ, then any absolutely continuous solution to the variational problem

     

Modelling of topological derivatives for contact problems

The problem of topology optimization is considered for free boundary problems of thin obstacle types. The formulae for the first term of asymptotics for energy functionals are derived. The precision of obtained terms is verified numerically. The topological differentiability of solutions to variational inequalities is established. In particular, the so-called outer asymptotic expansion for solutions of contact problems in elasticity with respect to singular perturbation of geometrical domain depending on small parameter are derived by an application of nonsmooth analysis. Such results lead to the topological derivatives of shape functionals for contact problems. The topological derivatives are used in numerical methods of simultaneous shape and topology optimization. Partially supported by the grant 4 T11A 01524 of the State Committee for the Scientific Research of the Republic of Poland     

Viscosity solutions to second order partial differential equations on Riemannian manifolds

We prove comparison, uniqueness and existence results for viscosity solutions to a wide class of fully nonlinear second order partial differential equations F(x,u,du,d²u)=0 defined on a finite-dimensional Riemannian manifold M. Finest results (with hypothesis that require the function F to be degenerate elliptic, that is nonincreasing in the second order derivative variable, and uniformly continuous with respect to the variable x) are obtained under the assumption that M has nonnegative sectional curvature, while, if one additionally requires F to depend on d²u in a uniformly continuous manner, then comparison results are established with no restrictive assumptions on curvature.     

Critical points for nondifferentiable functions in presence of splitting

A classical critical point theorem in presence of splitting established by Brézis-Nirenberg is extended to functionals which are the sum of a locally Lipschitz continuous term and of a convex, proper, lower semicontinuous function. The obtained result is then exploited to prove a multiplicity theorem for a family of elliptic variational-hemivariational eigenvalue problems.     

Application of variational inequalities to the moving-boundary problem in a fluid model for biofilm growth

We consider a moving-boundary problem associated with the fluid model for biofilm growth proposed by J. Dockery and I. Klapper, Finger formation in biofilm layers, SIAM J. Appl. Math. 62 (3) (2001) 853–869. Notions of classical, weak, and variational solutions for this problem are introduced. Classical solutions with radial symmetry are constructed, and estimates for their growth given. Using a weighted Baiocchi transform, the problem is reformulated as a family of variational inequalities, allowing us to show that, for any initial biofilm configuration at time t=0$t=0$ (any bounded open set), there exists a unique weak solution defined for all t≥0$t\ge 0$.     

Γ-limits and relaxations for rate-independent evolutionary problems

This work uses the energetic formulation of rate-independent systems that is based on the stored-energy functionals and the dissipation distance . For sequences and we address the question under which conditions the limits q _∞ of solutions satisfy a suitable limit problem with limit functionals and , which are the corresponding Γ-limits. We derive a sufficient condition, called conditional upper semi-continuity of the stable sets, which is essential to guarantee that q _∞ solves the limit problem. In particular, this condition holds if certain joint recovery sequences exist. Moreover, we show that time-incremental minimization problems can be used to approximate the solutions. A first example involves the numerical approximation of functionals using finite-element spaces. A second example shows that the stop and the play operator converge if the yield sets converge in the sense of Mosco. The third example deals with a problem developing microstructure in the limit k → ∞, which in the limit can be described by an effective macroscopic model. Research partially supported by LC06052 (MŠMT), MSM21620839 (MŠMT), A1077402 (GAČR), by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft under MATHEON C18 and under SFB404 C7, by the European Union under HPRN-CT-2002-00284 Smart Systems, and by the Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung. Both, TR and US gratefully acknowledge the kind hospitality of the WIAS, where this research was initiated.     

The optimal Euclidean L-Sobolev logarithmic inequality

We prove an optimal logarithmic Sobolev inequality in . Explicit minimizers are given. This result is connected with best constants of a special class of Gagliardo-Nirenberg-type inequalities.     

Applications of sandwich pairs

We apply some of the methods of sandwich pairs to semilinear equations and systems.     

Isoperimetric inequalities,Wulff shape and related questions for strongly nonlinear elliptic operators

We investigate the first eigenvalue of a highly nonlinear class of elliptic operators which includes the p--Laplace operator $\Delta_p u=\sum_i {{\partial}\over{\partial x_i}} (\vert\nabla u \vert^{p-2}{{\partial u}\over{\partial x_i}})$, the pseudo-p-Laplace operator $\tilde\Delta_p u=\sum_i {{\partial}\over{\partial x_i}} (\vert {{\partial u}\over{\partial x_i}} \vert^{p-2} {{\partial u}\over{\partial x_i}})$ and others. We derive the positivity of the first eingefunction, simlicity of the first eigenvalue, Faber-Krahn and Payne-Rayner type inequalities. In another chapter we address the question of symmetry for positive solutions to more general equations. Using a Pohozaev-type inequality and isoperimetric inequalities as well as convex rearrangement methods we generalize a symmetry result of Kesavan and Pacella. Our optimal domains are level sets of a convex function H ^o. They have the so-called Wulff shape associated with H and only in special cases they are Euclidean balls.     

A further three critical points theorem

If X is a real Banach space, we denote by W_X the class of all functionals possessing the following property: if {u_n} is a sequence in X converging weakly to u∈X and lim inf_n→∞Φ(u_n)≤Φ(u), then {u_n} has a subsequence converging strongly to u.In this paper, we prove the following result:Let X be a separable and reflexive real Banach space; an interval; a sequentially weakly lower semicontinuous C¹ functional, belonging to W_X, bounded on each bounded subset of X and whose derivative admits a continuous inverse on X^∗; a C¹ functional with compact derivative. Assume that, for each λ∈I, the functional Φ−λJ is coercive and has a strict local, not global minimum, say .Then, for each compact interval [a,b]⊆I for which , there exists r>0 with the following property: for every λ∈[a,b] and every C¹ functional with compact derivative, there exists δ>0 such that, for each μ∈[0,δ], the equation

Φ^′(x)=λJ^′(x)+μΨ^′(x)     

Existence results for semilinear elliptic variational inequalities with changing sign nonlinearities

In this paper we present some existence results for a class of semilinear elliptic variational inequalities, depending on a real parameter λ, with changing sign nonlinearities. The fundamental tool to prove the existence result is a penalization method combined with the Mountain Pass Theorem and the Linking Theorem, respectively in the case λ < λ ₁ and λ ≥ λ ₁, where λ₁ is the first eigenvalue of the uniformly elliptic operator A involved in the variational inequality.     

Extremal solutions of quasilinear parabolic inclusions with generalized Clarke's gradient

In this paper we consider an initial boundary value problem for a parabolic inclusion whose multivalued nonlinearity is characterized by Clarke's generalized gradient of some locally Lipschitz function, and whose elliptic operator may be a general quasilinear operator of Leray-Lions type. Recently, extremality results have been obtained in case that the governing multivalued term is of special structure such as, multifunctions given by the usual subdifferential of convex functions or subgradients of so-called dc-functions. The main goal of this paper is to prove the existence of extremal solutions within a sector of appropriately defined upper and lower solutions for quasilinear parabolic inclusions with general Clarke's gradient. The main tools used in the proof are abstract results on nonlinear evolution equations, regularization, comparison, truncation, and special test function techniques as well as tools from nonsmooth analysis.     

Closed loop control for evolution inclusions

The existence of a closed loop control problem for quasi-variational inequalities is established. Feedback laws are given.     

Global exact controllability for quasilinear hyperbolic systems of diagonal form with linearly degenerate characteristics

This paper deals with the global exact controllability for first-order quasilinear hyperbolic systems of diagonal form with linearly degenerate characteristics. When the system has no zero characteristics, we establish the global exact boundary controllability from one arbitrarily preassigned C¹$C^1$ data to another by means of a constructive method, in which the desired boundary controls can be acted either on both sides or only on one side. Sharp estimates on the exact controllable time are given in both cases. When the system has some zero characteristics, the global exact controllability is also established.     

Non-autonomous second order Hamiltonian systems

We study the existence of periodic solutions for a second order non-autonomous dynamical system containing variable kinetic energy terms. Our assumptions balance the interaction between the kinetic energy and the potential energy with neither one dominating the other. We study sublinear problems and the existence of non-constant solutions.     

Mesh-independence of semismooth Newton methods for Lavrentiev-regularized state constrained nonlinear optimal control problems

A class of nonlinear elliptic optimal control problems with mixed control-state constraints arising, e.g., in Lavrentiev-type regularized state constrained optimal control is considered. Based on its first order necessary optimality conditions, a semismooth Newton method is proposed and its fast local convergence in function space as well as a mesh-independence principle for appropriate discretizations are proved. The paper ends by a numerical verification of the theoretical results including a study of the algorithm in the case of vanishing Lavrentiev-parameter. The latter process is realized numerically by a combination of a nested iteration concept and an extrapolation technique for the state with respect to the Lavrentiev-parameter.     

Periodic non-autonomous second-order dynamical systems

We study the existence of periodic solutions for a second-order non-autonomous dynamical system. We give three sets of hypotheses which guarantee the existence of non-constant solutions. We were able to weaken the hypotheses considerably from those used previously for such systems. We employ a saddle point theorem using linking methods.     

Limiting properties of the second order Ginzburg–Landau minimizers

The author studies the weak convergence for the gradient of the minimizers for a second order energy functional when the parameter tends to 0. And this paper is also concerned with the location of the zeros and the blow-up points of the gradient of the minimizers of this functional. Finally, the strong convergence of the gradient of the radial minimizers is obtained.