Asymptotic analysis of linearly elastic shells. I. Justification of membrane shell equations

We consider a family of linearly elastic shells with thickness 2?, clamped along their entire lateral face, all having the same middle surfaceS=φ(?ω) ?R ³, whereω ?R ² is a bounded and connected open set with a Lipschitz-continuous boundaryγ, andφ ∈l ³ ( $\overline \omega$ ;R ³). We make an essential geometrical assumption on the middle surfaceS, which is satisfied ifγ andφ are smooth enough andS is “uniformly elliptic”, in the sense that the two principal radii of curvature are either both>0 at all points ofS, or both<0 at all points ofS. We show that, if the applied body force density isO(1) with respect to?, the fieldtu(?)=(u _i(?)), whereu _i (?) denote the three covariant components of the displacement of the points of the shell given by the equations of three-dimensional elasticity, one “scaled” so as to be defined over the fixed domain Ω=ω×]?1, 1[, converges inH ¹(Ω)×H ¹(Ω)×L ²(Ω) as?→0 to a limitu, which is independent of the transverse variable. Furthermore, the averageξ=1/2ε _?1 ¹ u dx ₃, which belongs to the space $$V_M (\omega ) = H_0^1 (\omega ) \times H_0^1 (\omega ) \times L^2 (\omega ),$$ satisfies the (scaled) two-dimensional equations of a “membrane shell” viz., $$\mathop \smallint \limits_\omega a^{\alpha \beta \sigma \tau } \gamma _{\sigma \tau } (\zeta )\gamma _{\alpha \beta } (\eta ) \sqrt \alpha dy = \mathop \smallint \limits_\omega \left\{ {\mathop \smallint \limits_{ - 1}^1 f^i dx_3 } \right\}\eta _i \sqrt a dy$$ for allη=(η _i) εV _M(ω), where $a^{\alpha \beta \sigma \tau }$ are the components of the two-dimensional elasticity tensor of the surfaceS, $$\gamma _{\alpha \beta } (\eta ) = \frac{1}{2}\left( {\partial _{\alpha \eta \beta } + \partial _{\beta \eta \alpha } } \right) - \Gamma _{\alpha \beta }^\sigma \eta _\sigma - b_{\alpha \beta \eta 3} $$ are the components of the linearized change of metric tensor ofS, $\Gamma _{\alpha \beta }^\sigma$ are the Christoffel symbols ofS, $b_{\alpha \beta }$ are the components of the curvature tensor ofS, andf ⁱ are the scaled components of the applied body force. Under the above assumptions, the two-dimensional equations of a “membrane shell” are therefore justified.     

Γ-Convergence Analysis of Systems of Edge Dislocations: the Self Energy Regime

This paper deals with the elastic energy induced by systems of straight edge dislocations in the framework of linearized plane elasticity. The dislocations are introduced as point topological defects of the displacement-gradient fields. Following the core radius approach, we introduce a parameter ${\varepsilon > 0}$ representing the lattice spacing of the crystal, we remove a disc of radius ${\varepsilon}$ around each dislocation and compute the elastic energy stored outside the union of such discs, namely outside the core region. Then, we analyze the asymptotic behaviour of the elastic energy as ${\varepsilon \rightarrow 0}$ , in terms of Γ-convergence. We focus on the self energy regime of order ${\log\frac{1}{\varepsilon}}$ ; we show that configurations with logarithmic diverging energy converge, up to a subsequence, to a finite number of multiple dislocations and we compute the corresponding Γ-limit.     

A simple mixture theory for ν Newtonian and generalized Newtonian constituents

This work presents the development of mathematical models based on conservation laws for a saturated mixture of ν homogeneous, isotropic, and incompressible constituents for isothermal flows. The constituents and the mixture are assumed to be Newtonian or generalized Newtonian fluids. Power law and Carreau–Yasuda models are considered for generalized Newtonian shear thinning fluids. The mathematical model is derived for a ν constituent mixture with volume fractions ${\phi_\alpha}$ using principles of continuum mechanics: conservation of mass, balance of momenta, first and second laws of thermodynamics, and principles of mixture theory yielding continuity equations, momentum equations, energy equation, and constitutive theories for mechanical pressures and deviatoric Cauchy stress tensors in terms of the dependent variables related to the constituents. It is shown that for Newtonian fluids with constant transport properties, the mathematical models for constituents are decoupled. In this case, one could use individual constituent models to obtain constituent deformation fields, and then use mixture theory to obtain the deformation field for the mixture. In the case of generalized Newtonian fluids, the dependence of viscosities on deformation field does not permit decoupling. Numerical studies are also presented to demonstrate this aspect. Using fully developed flow of Newtonian and generalized Newtonian fluids between parallel plates as a model problem, it is shown that partial pressures p _α of the constituents must be expressed in terms of the mixture pressure p. In this work, we propose ${p_\alpha=\phi_\alpha p}$ and ${\sum_\alpha^\nu p_\alpha = p}$ which implies ${\sum_\alpha^\nu \phi_\alpha = 1}$ which obviously holds. This rule for partial pressure is shown to be valid for a mixture of Newtonian and generalized Newtonian constituents yielding Newtonian and generalized Newtonian mixture. Modifications of the currently used constitutive theories for deviatoric Cauchy stress tensor are proposed. These modifications are demonstrated to be essential in order for the mixture theory for ν constituents to yield a valid mathematical model when the constituents are the same. Dimensionless form of the mathematical models is derived and used to present numerical studies for boundary value problems using finite element processes based on a residual functional, that is, least squares finite element processes in which local approximations are considered in ${H^{k,p}\left(\bar{\Omega}^e\right)}$ scalar product spaces. Fully developed flow between parallel plates and 1:2 asymmetric backward facing step is used as model problems for a mixture of two constituents.     

Random Data Cauchy Theory for the Generalized Incompressible Navier–Stokes Equations

In this paper, we consider the generalized Navier?CStokes equations where the space domain is ${\mathbb{T}^N}$ or ${\mathbb{R}^N, N\geq3}$ . The generalized Navier?CStokes equations here refer to the equations obtained by replacing the Laplacian in the classical Navier?CStokes equations by the more general operator (???) ^?? with ${\alpha\in (\frac{1}{2},\frac{N+2}{4})}$ . After a suitable randomization, we obtain the existence and uniqueness of the local mild solution for a large set of the initial data in ${H^s, s\in[-\alpha,0]}$ , if ${1 < \alpha < \frac{N+2}{4}, s\in(1-2\alpha,0]}$ , if ${\frac{1}{2} < \alpha\leq 1}$ . Furthermore, we obtain the probability for the global existence and uniqueness of the solution. Specially, our result shows that, in some sense, the Cauchy problem of the classical Navier?CStokes equation is local well-posed for a large set of the initial data in H ^?1+, exhibiting a gain of ${\frac{N}{2}-}$ derivatives with respect to the critical Hilbert space ${H^{\frac{N}{2}-1}}$ .     

Integrability of the constrained rigid body

The integrability theory for the differential equations, which describe the motion of an unconstrained rigid body around a fixed point is well known. When there are constraints the theory of integrability is incomplete. The main objective of this paper is to analyze the integrability of the equations of motion of a constrained rigid body around a fixed point in a force field with potential U(γ)=U(γ ₁,γ ₂,γ ₃). This motion subject to the constraint 〈ν,ω〉=0 with ν is a constant vector is known as the Suslov problem, and when ν=γ is the known Veselova problem, here ω=(ω ₁,ω ₂,ω ₃) is the angular velocity and 〈?,?〉 is the inner product of $\mathbb{R}^{3}$ . We provide the following new integrable cases. (i) The Suslov’s problem is integrable under the assumption that ν is an eigenvector of the inertial tensor I and the potential is such that $$U=-\frac{1}{2I_1I_2}\bigl(I_1\mu^2_1+I_2 \mu^2_2\bigr), $$ where I ₁,I ₂, and I ₃ are the principal moments of inertia of the body, μ ₁ and μ ₂ are solutions of the first-order partial differential equation $$\gamma_3 \biggl(\frac{\partial\mu_1}{\partial\gamma_2}- \frac{\partial\mu_2}{\partial \gamma_1} \biggr)- \gamma_2\frac{\partial \mu_1}{\partial\gamma_3}+\gamma_1\frac{\partial\mu_2}{\partial \gamma_3}=0. $$ (ii) The Veselova problem is integrable for the potential $$U=-\frac{\varPsi^2_1+\varPsi^2_2}{2(I_1\gamma^2_2+I_2\gamma^2_1)}, $$ where Ψ ₁ and Ψ ₂ are the solutions of the first-order partial differential equation where $p=\sqrt{I_{1}I_{2}I_{3} (\frac{\gamma^{2}_{1}}{I_{1}}+\frac{\gamma^{2}_{2}}{I_{2}}+ \frac{\gamma^{2}_{3}}{I_{3}} )}$ . Also it is integrable when the potential U is a solution of the second-order partial differential equation where $\tau_{2}=I_{1}\gamma^{2}_{1}+I_{2}\gamma^{2}_{2}+I_{3}\gamma^{2}_{3}$ and $\tau_{3}=\frac{\gamma^{2}_{1}}{I_{1}}+\frac{\gamma^{2}_{2}}{I_{2}}+ \frac{\gamma^{2}_{3}}{I_{3}}$ . Moreover, we show that these integrable cases contain as a particular case the previous known results.     

Asymptotic analysis of linearly elastic shells. II. Justification of flexural shell equations

We consider as in Part I a family of linearly elastic shells of thickness 2?, all having the same middle surfaceS=?(?)?R ³, whereω?R ² is a bounded and connected open set with a Lipschitz-continuous boundary, and?∈l ³ (?;R ³). The shells are clamped on a portion of their lateral face, whose middle line is?(γ ₀), whereγ ₀ is any portion of?ω withlength γ ₀>0. We make an essential geometrical assumption on the middle surfaceS and on the setγ ₀, which states that the space of inextensional displacements $$\begin{gathered} V_F (\omega ) = \{ \eta = (\eta _i ) \in H^1 (\omega ) \times H^1 (\omega ) \times H^2 (\omega ); \hfill \\ \eta _i = \partial _v \eta _3 = 0 on \gamma _0 ,\gamma _{\alpha \beta } (\eta ) = 0 in \omega \} , \hfill \\ \end{gathered}$$ where $\gamma _{\alpha \beta }$ (η) are the components of the linearized change is metric tensor ofS, contains non-zero functions. This assumption is satisfied in particular ifS is a portion of cylinder and?(γ ₀) is contained in a generatrix ofS. We show that, if the applied body force density isO(? ²) with respect to?, the fieldu(?)=(u _i (?)), whereu _i (?) denote the three covariant components of the displacement of the points of the shell given by the equations of three-dimensional elasticity, once “scaled” so as to be defined over the fixed domain Ω=ω×]?1, 1[, converges as?→0 inH ¹(Ω) to a limitu, which is independent of the transverse variable. Furthermore, the averageζ=1/2ts _?1 ¹ u dx ₃, which belongs to the spaceV _F (ω), satisfies the (scaled) two-dimensional equations of a “flexural shell”, viz., $$\frac{1}{3}\mathop \smallint \limits_\omega a^{\alpha \beta \sigma \tau } \rho _{\sigma \tau } (\zeta )\rho _{\alpha \beta } (\eta )\sqrt {a } dy = \mathop \smallint \limits_\omega \left\{ {\mathop \smallint \limits_{ - 1}^1 f^i dx_3 } \right\} \eta _i \sqrt {a } dy$$ for allη=(η _i ) ∈V _F (ω), where $a^{\alpha \beta \sigma \tau }$ are the components of the two-dimensional elasticity tensor of the surfaceS, $$\begin{gathered} \rho _{\alpha \beta } (\eta ) = \partial _{\alpha \beta } \eta _3 - \Gamma _{\alpha \beta }^\sigma \partial _\sigma \eta _3 + b_\beta ^\sigma \left( {\partial _\alpha \eta _\sigma - \Gamma _{\alpha \sigma }^\tau \eta _\tau } \right) \hfill \\ + b_\alpha ^\sigma \left( {\partial _\beta \eta _\sigma - \Gamma _{\beta \sigma }^\tau \eta _\tau } \right) + b_\alpha ^\sigma {\text{|}}_\beta \eta _\sigma - c_{\alpha \beta } \eta _3 \hfill \\ \end{gathered} $$ are the components of the linearized change of curvature tensor ofS, $\Gamma _{\alpha \beta }^\sigma$ are the Christoffel symbols ofS, $b_\alpha ^\beta$ are the mixed components of the curvature tensor ofS, andf ⁱ are the scaled components of the applied body force. Under the above assumptions, the two-dimensional equations of a “flexural shell” are therefore justified.     

Well-Posedness of Nematic Liquid Crystal Flow in {L^{3}_{\rm uloc}(\mathbb{R}^3)}

In this paper, we establish the local well-posedness for the Cauchy problem of a simplified version of hydrodynamic flow of nematic liquid crystals in ${\mathbb{R}^3}$ for any initial data (u ₀, d ₀) having small ${L^{3}_{\rm uloc}}$ -norm of ${(u_{0}, \nabla d_{0})}$ . Here ${L^{3}_{\rm uloc}(\mathbb{R}^3)}$ is the space of uniformly locally L ³-integrable functions. For any initial data (u ₀, d ₀) with small ${\|(u_0, \nabla d_0)\|_{L^{3}(\mathbb{R}^3)}}$ , we show that there exists a unique, global solution to the problem under consideration which is smooth for t > 0 and has monotone deceasing L ³-energy for ${t \geqq 0}$ .     

The Stabilizing Effect of Spacetime Expansion on Relativistic Fluids With Sharp Results for the Radiation Equation of State

In this article, we study the 1 + 3-dimensional relativistic Euler equations on a pre-specified conformally flat expanding spacetime background with spatial slices that are diffeomorphic to ${\mathbb{R}^3.}$ R 3 . We assume that the fluid verifies the equation of state ${p = c^{2}_{s} \rho,}$ p = c s 2 ρ , where ${0 \leq c_{s} \leq \sqrt{1/3}}$ 0 ≤ c s ≤ 1 / 3 is the speed of sound. We also assume that the reciprocal of the scale factor associated with the expanding spacetime metric verifies a c _s ?dependent time-integrability condition. Under these assumptions, we use the vector field energy method to prove that an explicit family of physically motivated, spatially homogeneous, and spatially isotropic fluid solutions are globally future-stable under small perturbations of their initial conditions. The explicit solutions corresponding to each scale factor are analogs of the well-known spatially flat Friedmann–Lemaître–Robertson–Walker family. Our nonlinear analysis, which exploits dissipative terms generated by the expansion, shows that the perturbed solutions exist for all future times and remain close to the explicit solutions. This work is an extension of previous results, which showed that an analogous stability result holds when the spacetime is exponentially expanding. In the case of the radiation equation of state p = (1/3)ρ, we also show that if the time-integrability condition for the reciprocal of the scale factor fails to hold, then the explicit fluid solutions are unstable. More precisely, we show the existence of an open family of initial data such that (i) it contains arbitrarily small smooth perturbations of the explicit solutions’ data and (ii) the corresponding perturbed solutions necessarily form shocks in finite time. The shock formation proof is based on the conformal invariance of the relativistic Euler equations when ${c^{2}_{s} = 1/3,}$ c s 2 = 1 / 3 , which allows for a reduction to a well-known result of Christodoulou.     

On the Second Iterate for Critically Diffusive Active Scalar Equations

We consider an iterative resolution scheme for a class of active scalar equations with a fractional power γ of the Laplacian and focus our attention on the second iterate. In the case of critical diffusivity, we extract information relevant to Well-posedness questions in scale-invariant spaces. Our results are Two-fold: we prove continuity of the bilinear operator in ${\dot{B}^{0}_{\infty,1}}$ ; for equations with an even symbol we show that the ${B^{-1/2}_{\infty,q}}$ -regularity, where q > 2, is in a sense a minimal necessary requirement on the solution.     

Asymptotic analysis of linearly elastic shells. III. Justification of Koiter's shell equations

We consider as in Parts I and II a family of linearly elastic shells of thickness 2?, all having the same middle surfaceS=?(?)?R ³, whereω?R ² is a bounded and connected open set with a Lipschitz-continuous boundary, and? ∈ ?³ (?;R ³). The shells are clamped on a portion of their lateral face, whose middle line is?(γ ₀), whereγ ₀ is a portion of?ω withlength γ ₀>0. For all?>0, let $\zeta _i^\varepsilon$ denote the covariant components of the displacement $u_i^\varepsilon g^{i,\varepsilon }$ of the points of the shell, obtained by solving the three-dimensional problem; let $\zeta _i^\varepsilon$ denote the covariant components of the displacement $\zeta _i^\varepsilon$ a ⁱ of the points of the middle surfaceS, obtained by solving the two-dimensional model ofW.T. Koiter, which consists in finding $$\zeta ^\varepsilon = \left( {\zeta _i^\varepsilon } \right) \in V_K (\omega ) = \left\{ {\eta = (\eta _\iota ) \in {\rm H}^1 (\omega ) \times H^1 (\omega ) \times H^2 (\omega ); \eta _i = \partial _v \eta _3 = 0 on \gamma _0 } \right\}$$ such that $$\begin{gathered} \varepsilon \mathop \smallint \limits_\omega a^{\alpha \beta \sigma \tau } \gamma _{\sigma \tau } (\zeta ^\varepsilon )\gamma _{\alpha \beta } (\eta )\sqrt a dy + \frac{{\varepsilon ^3 }}{3} \mathop \smallint \limits_\omega a^{\alpha \beta \sigma \tau } \rho _{\sigma \tau } (\zeta ^\varepsilon )\rho _{\alpha \beta } (\eta )\sqrt a dy \hfill \\ = \mathop \smallint \limits_\omega p^{i,\varepsilon } \eta _i \sqrt a dy for all \eta = (\eta _i ) \in V_K (\omega ), \hfill \\ \end{gathered}$$ where $a^{\alpha \beta \sigma \tau }$ are the components of the two-dimensional elasticity tensor ofS, $\gamma _{\alpha \beta }$ (η) and $\rho _{\alpha \beta }$ (η) are the components of the linearized change of metric and change of curvature tensors ofS, and $p^{i,\varepsilon }$ are the components of the resultant of the applied forces. Under the same assumptions as in Part I, we show that the fields $\frac{1}{{2_\varepsilon }}\smallint _{ - \varepsilon }^\varepsilon u_i^\varepsilon g^{i,\varepsilon } dx_3^\varepsilon$ and $\zeta _i^\varepsilon$ a ⁱ , both defined on the surfaceS, have the same principal part as? → 0, inH ¹ (ω) for the tangential components, and inL ²(ω) for the normal component; under the same assumptions as in Part II, we show that the same fields again have the same principal part as? → 0, inH ¹ (ω) for all their components. For “membrane” and “flexural” shells, the two-dimensional model ofW.T. Koiter is therefore justified.     

Mixed Convection Boundary-Layer Flow Along a Vertical Cylinder Embedded in a Porous Medium Filled by a Nanofluid

The steady mixed convection boundary-layer flow on a vertical circular cylinder embedded in a porous medium filled by a nanofluid is studied for both cases of a heated and a cooled cylinder. The governing system of partial differential equations is reduced to ordinary differential equations by assuming that the surface temperature of the cylinder and the velocity of the external (inviscid) flow vary linearly with the axial distance x measured from the leading edge. Solutions of the resulting ordinary differential equations for the flow and heat transfer characteristics are evaluated numerically for various values of the governing parameters, namely the nanoparticle volume fraction ${\phi}$ , the mixed convection or buoyancy parameter ?? and the curvature parameter ??. Results are presented for the specific case of copper nanoparticles. A critical value ?? _c of ?? with ?? _c <?0 is found, with the values of | ?? _c| increasing as the curvature parameter ?? or nanoparticle volume fraction ${\phi}$ is increased. Dual solutions are seen for all values of ?? >??? _c for both aiding, ?? >?0 and opposing, ?? <?0, flows. Asymptotic solutions are also determined for both the free convection limit ${(\lambda \gg 1)}$ and for large curvature parameter ${(\gamma \gg 1)}$ .     

Existence of Weak Solutions for Unsteady Motions of Herschel–Bulkley Fluids

The equations for unsteady flows of Herschel–Bulkley fluids are considered and the existence of a weak solution is proved in a cylinder Q _T ?=?Ω?×?(0, T), where ${\Omega\subset {\mathbb{R}}^n}$ denotes a bounded open set. The result is obtained with the help of the Lipschitz truncation method.     

Global Compensated Compactness Theorem for General Differential Operators of First Order

Let A ₁(x, D) and A ₂(x, D) be differential operators of the first order acting on l-vector functions ${u= (u_1, \ldots, u_l)}$ in a bounded domain ${\Omega \subset \mathbb{R}^{n}}$ with the smooth boundary ${\partial\Omega}$ . We assume that the H ¹-norm ${\|u\|_{H^{1}(\Omega)}}$ is equivalent to ${\sum_{i=1}^2\|A_iu\|_{L^2(\Omega)} + \|B_1u\|_{H^{\frac{1}{2}}(\partial\Omega)}}$ and ${\sum_{i=1}^2\|A_iu\|_{L^2(\Omega)} + \|B_2u\|_{H^{\frac{1}{2}}(\partial\Omega)}}$ , where B _i  = B _i (x, ν) is the trace operator onto ${\partial\Omega}$ associated with A _i (x, D) for i = 1, 2 which is determined by the Stokes integral formula (ν: unit outer normal to ${\partial\Omega}$ ). Furthermore, we impose on A ₁ and A ₂ a cancellation property such as ${A_1A_2^{\prime}=0}$ and ${A_2A_1^{\prime}=0}$ , where ${A^{\prime}_i}$ is the formal adjoint differential operator of A _i (i = 1, 2). Suppose that ${\{u_m\}_{m=1}^{\infty}}$ and ${\{v_m\}_{m=1}^{\infty}}$ converge to u and v weakly in ${L^2(\Omega)}$ , respectively. Assume also that ${\{A_{1}u_m\}_{m=1}^{\infty}}$ and ${\{A_{2}v_{m}\}_{m=1}^{\infty}}$ are bounded in ${L^{2}(\Omega)}$ . If either ${\{B_{1}u_m\}_{m=1}^{\infty}}$ or ${\{B_{2}v_m\}_{m=1}^{\infty}}$ is bounded in ${H^{\frac{1}{2}}(\partial\Omega)}$ , then it holds that ${\int_{\Omega}u_m\cdot v_m \,{\rm d}x \to \int_{\Omega}u\cdot v \,{\rm d}x}$ . We also discuss a corresponding result on compact Riemannian manifolds with boundary.     

The critical tube diameter in a two reaction steps detonation: the H2/NO2 mixture case

We present experimental results on the detonability of the H₂/NO₂ mixture whose detonation exhibits a single cellular structure (λ₁) for the lean mixtures and a double cellular structure (fine cells of size λ₁ inside larger cells of size λ₂) for stoichiometric and rich mixtures. Whatever the equivalence ratio ${\phi}$ , the chemical energy is released in two successive exothermic steps of heat of reaction Q ₁ and Q ₂ (Q ₁ + Q ₂ = Q, the total heat release) and characterised (for ${\phi > 1}$ ) by two chemical lengths. The detonability is evaluated on the basis of critical conditions of self-sustained detonations transmission from a cylindrical tube of i.d. d to free space. Results show that for the critical tube diameter relationship d/λ₁ = k, with respect to the equivalence ratio ${\phi}$ ranging from 0.5 to 1.3 at ambient temperature, k is higher than the classical value 13 and its variation is rather complex. Indeed, d/λ₁ increases with ${\phi}$ from 17–18 for ${\phi = 0.5}$ to 45–50 for ${\phi = 1}$ and to 90–100 for ${\phi = 1.3}$ . The highest detonability obtained for ${\phi = 0.6}$ is explained on the basis of the highest relative contribution of the first exothermic step to the total energy Q. We conclude that, as d/λ₁ drops with Q ₂ decreasing, it should tend to 13 with the vanishing second exothermic reaction.     

Maximal and Minimal Spreading Speeds for Reaction Diffusion Equations in Nonperiodic Slowly Varying Media

This paper investigates the asymptotic behavior of the solutions of the Fisher-KPP equation in a heterogeneous medium, $$\partial_t u = \partial_{xx} u + f(x,u),$$ associated with a compactly supported initial datum. A typical nonlinearity we consider is ${f(x,u) = \mu_0 (\phi (x)) u(1-u)}$ , where??? ₀ is a 1-periodic function and ${\phi}$ is a ${\mathcal{C}^1}$ increasing function that satisfies ${\lim_{x \to+\infty}\phi (x) = +\infty}$ and ${\lim_{x \to +\infty}\phi' (x) =0}$ . Although quite specific, the choice of such a reaction term is motivated by its highly heterogeneous nature. We exhibit two different behaviors for u for large times, depending on the speed of the convergence of ${\phi}$ at infinity. If ${\phi}$ grows sufficiently slowly, then we prove that the spreading speed of u oscillates between two distinct values. If ${\phi}$ grows rapidly, then we compute explicitly a unique and well determined speed of propagation w _??, arising from the limiting problem of an infinite period. We give a heuristic interpretation for these two behaviors.     

Multiple Blow-Up Phenomena for the Sinh-Poisson Equation

We consider the sinh-Poisson equation $$(P) _ \lambda - \Delta{u} = \lambda \, {\rm sinh} \, u \quad {\rm in} \, \Omega, \quad u = 0 \quad {\rm on} \, \partial\Omega$$ , where Ω is a smooth bounded domain in ${\mathbb{R}^2}$ and λ is a small positive parameter. If ${0 \in \Omega}$ and Ω is symmetric with respect to the origin, for any integer k if λ is small enough, we construct a family of solutions to (P) _λ , which blows up at the origin, whose positive mass is 4πk(k?1) and negative mass is 4πk(k + 1). This gives a complete answer to an open problem formulated by Jost et al. (Calc Var PDE 31(2):263–276, 2008).     

On the Symmetry of Energy-Minimising Deformations in Nonlinear Elasticity II: Compressible Materials

Consider a homogeneous, isotropic, hyperelastic body occupying the region ${A = \{{\bf x}\in\mathbb{R}^{n}\, : \,a <\,|{\bf x} |\,< b \}}$ in its reference state and subject to radially symmetric displacement, or mixed displacement/traction, boundary conditions. In Part I (Sivaloganathan and Spector in Arch Ration Mech Anal, 2009, in press) the authors restricted their attention to incompressible materials. For a large-class of polyconvex constitutive relations that grow sufficiently rapidly at infinity it was shown that to each nonradial isochoric deformation of A there corresponds a radial isochoric deformation that has strictly less elastic energy than the given deformation. In this paper that analysis is further developed and extended to the compressible case. The key ingredient is a new radial-symmetrisation procedure that is appropriate for problems where the symmetrised mapping must be one-to-one in order to prevent interpenetration of matter. For the pure displacement boundary-value problem, the radial symmetrisation of an orientation-preserving diffeomorphism u : A → A* between spherical shells A and A* is the deformation $${\bf u}^{\rm rad}({\bf x})=\frac{r(R)}{R}{\bf x}, \quad R=|{\bf x}|,\qquad\qquad\qquad\qquad(0.1)$$ that maps each sphere ${S_R\subset\,A}$ , of radius R > 0, centred at the origin into another such sphere ${S_r={\bf u}^{\rm rad}(S_R)\subset\,A^*}$ that encloses the same volume as u(S _R ). Since the volumes enclosed by the surfaces u(S _R ) and u ^rad (S _R ) are equal, the classical isoperimetric inequality implies that ${{{\rm Area}( {\bf u}^{\rm rad} (S_R))\leqq {\rm Area}({\bf u} (S_R))}}$ . The equality of the enclosed volumes together with this reduction in surface area is then shown to give rise to a reduction in total energy for many of the constitutive relations used in nonlinear elasticity. These results are also extended to classes of Sobolev deformations and applied to prove that the radially symmetric solutions to these boundary-value problems are local or global energy minimisers in various classes of (possibly nonsymmetric) deformations of a thick spherical shell.     

C 1 Solutions for Semi-Implicit Systems of Differential Equations

The present note is a continuation of the author??s effort to study the existence of continuously differentiable solutions to the semi-implicit system of differential equations (1) $$f(x^{\prime}(t)) = g(t, x(t))$$ (2) $$\quad x(0) = x_0,$$ where

${\quad\Omega_g \subseteq \mathbb{R} \times\mathbb{R}^n}$ is an open set containing (0, x ₀) and ${g:\Omega_g \rightarrow\mathbb{R}^n}$ is a continuous function,

${\quad\Omega_f \subseteq \mathbb{R}^n}$ is an open set and ${f:\Omega_f\rightarrow\mathbb{R}^n}$ is a continuous function.

The transformation of (1)?C(2) into a solvable explicit system of differential equations is trivial if f is locally injective around an element ${\gamma\in \Omega_f\cap f^{-1}(g(0,x_0))}$ . In this paper, we study (1)?C(2) when such a translation is not possible because of the inherent multivalued nature of f ^?1.     

Extensions of Serrin’s Uniqueness and Regularity Conditions for the Navier–Stokes Equations

Consider a smooth bounded domain ${\Omega \subseteq {\mathbb{R}}^3}$ , a time interval [0, T), 0?<?T?≤?∞, and a weak solution u of the Navier–Stokes system. Our aim is to develop several new sufficient conditions on u yielding uniqueness and/or regularity. Based on semigroup properties of the Stokes operator we obtain that the local left-hand Serrin condition for each ${t\in (0,T)}$ is sufficient for the regularity of u. Somehow optimal conditions are obtained in terms of Besov spaces. In particular we obtain such properties under the limiting Serrin condition ${u \in L_{\rm loc}^\infty([0,T);L^3(\Omega))}$ . The complete regularity under this condition has been shown recently for bounded domains using some additional assumptions in particular on the pressure. Our result avoids such assumptions but yields global uniqueness and the right-hand regularity at each time when ${u \in L_{\rm loc}^\infty([0,T);L^3(\Omega))}$ or when ${u(t)\in L^3(\Omega)}$ pointwise and u satisfies the energy equality. In the last section we obtain uniqueness and right-hand regularity for completely general domains.