On the maximum principle for complete second-order elliptic operators in general domains

This paper is concerned with the maximum principle for second-order linear elliptic equations in a wide generality. By means of a geometric condition previously stressed by Berestycki-Nirenberg-Varadhan, Cabré was very able to improve the classical ABP estimate obtaining the maximum principle also in unbounded domains, such as infinite strips and open connected cones with closure different from the whole space. Now we introduce a new geometric condition that extends the result to a more general class of domains including the complements of hypersurfaces, as for instance the cut plane. The methods developed here allow us to deal with complete second-order equations, where the admissible first-order term, forced to be zero in a preceding result with Cafagna, depends on the geometry of the domain.     

Interior estimates for second-order elliptic differential (or finite-difference) equations via the maximum principle

Second-order elliptic operators are transformed into second-order elliptic operators of a higher dimensionality acting on differences of functions. Applying the maximum principle to the resulting operators yields various a-priori pointwise estimates to difference-quotients of solutions of elliptic differential, as well as finite-difference, equations. We derive Schauder estimates, estimates for equations with discontinuous coefficients, and other estimates.     

Nonlinear nonuniformly elliptic second-order equations

One establishes a priori estimates for the first and second derivatives of the solutions of nonuniformly elliptic equations of the form F(x,u,Du,D^zu) without the assumptions of the convexity of the function F(x,z,p,r) with respect to r. These estimates allow us to extend the results of N. V. Krylov, L. C. Evans, and N. S. Trudinger on the classical solvability of the Dirichlet problem for essential nonlinear uniformly elliptic equations, convex with respect to D², to wider classes of nonlinear equations.Translated from Zapiski Nauchnykh Seminarov Leningradskogo Otdeleniya Matematicheskogo Instituta im. V. A. Steklova AN SSSR, Vol. 138, pp. 35–64, 1984.     

On maximum principles for a class of nonlinear second-order elliptic equations

In a recent paper [3] the authors derived maximum principles which involved $\text{u(x)}\text{and}\text{q = ¦}\text{grad}\text{u¦}$, where u(x) is a classical solution of an alliptic differential equation of the form ($\text{g(q}{}^2\text{)u}{}_{\mathrm{,i}}\text{)}{}_{\mathrm{,i}}\text{+ ?(u) ?(q}{}^2\text{) = 0}$. In this paper these results are extended to the more general case in which $\text{g = g(u, q}{}^2\text{)}\text{and}\text{?(u) ?(q}{}^2\text{)}$ is replaced by h(u, q²).     

Solvability of the Dirichlet problem for second-order elliptic equations

In our preceding papers, we obtained necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of an (n?1)-dimensionally continuous solution of the Dirichlet problem in a bounded domain Q ? ? _n under natural restrictions imposed on the coefficients of the general second-order elliptic equation, but these conditions were formulated in terms of an auxiliary operator equation in a special Hilbert space and are difficult to verify. We here obtain necessary and sufficient conditions for the problem solvability in terms of the initial problem for a somewhat narrower class of right-hand sides of the equation and also prove that the obtained conditions become the solvability conditions in the space W ₂ ¹ (Q) under the additional requirement that the boundary function belongs to the space W ₂ ^1/2 (?Q).     

Mappings by the solutions of second-order elliptic equations

The properties of mappings by the solutions of second-order elliptic partial differential equations in the plane are studied. We obtain conditions on a function, continuous on the unit circle, that are sufficient for the solution of the Dirichlet problem in the open unit disk for the given equation with the given boundary function to be a homeomorphism between the open unit disk and a Jordan simply connected domain. The properties of the zeros of the solutions of the given equations are also studied. In particular, an analog of the main theorem of algebra is proved for polynomial solutions.     

On holomorphic solutions of some boundary-value problems for second-order elliptic operator differential equations

In the class of holomorphic vector functions, we determine the conditions of solvability of the boundaryvalue problem for a class of second-order operator differential equations expressed in terms of the operator coefficients appearing both in the equation and in the boundary condition.     

A second-order estimate for blow-up solutions of elliptic equations

We investigate second-term asymptotic behavior of boundary blow-up solutions to the problems Δu=b(x)f(u), x∈Ω, subject to the singular boundary condition u(x)=∞, in a bounded smooth domain Ω⊂R^N. b(x) is a non-negative weight function. The nonlinearly f is regularly varying at infinity with index ρ>1 (that is lim_u→∞f(ξu)/f(u)=ξ^ρ for every ξ>0) and the mapping f(u)/u is increasing on (0,+∞). The main results show how the mean curvature of the boundary ∂Ω appears in the asymptotic expansion of the solution u(x). Our analysis relies on suitable upper and lower solutions and the Karamata regular variation theory.     

On positivity of solutions of degenerate boundary value problems for second-order elliptic equations

In this paper we study thedegenerate mixed boundary value problem:Pu=f in Ω,B _u =gon Ω∂Г where ω is a domain in ℝ ⁿ ,P is a second order linear elliptic operator with real coefficients, Γ⊆∂Ω is a relatively closed set, andB is an oblique boundary operator defined only on ∂Ω/Γ which is assumed to be a smooth part of the boundary. The aim of this research is to establish some basic results concerning positive solutions. In particular, we study the solvability of the above boundary value problem in the class of nonnegative functions, and properties of the generalized principal eigenvalue, the ground state, and the Green function associated with this problem. The notion of criticality and subcriticality for this problem is introduced, and a criticality theory for this problem is established. The analogs for the generalized Dirichlet boundary value problem, where Γ=∂Ω, were examined intensively by many authors.     

Partial Schauder estimates for second-order elliptic and parabolic equations

We establish Schauder estimates for both divergence and non-divergence form second-order elliptic and parabolic equations involving H?lder semi-norms not with respect to all, but only with respect to some of the independent variables.     

On the comparison principle for unbounded solutions of elliptic equations with first order terms

We prove a comparison principle for unbounded weak sub/super solutions of the equation

$\lambda u?\text{div}(A(x)Du)=H(x,Du)\text{ in }\mathrm{\Omega }$

where $A(x)$ is a bounded coercive matrix with measurable ingredients, $\lambda \ge 0$ and $\xi ?H(x,\xi )$ has a super linear growth and is convex at infinity. We improve earlier results where the convexity of $H(x,?)$ was required to hold globally.