On the evolution of sharp fronts for the quasi‐geostrophic equation

We consider the problem of the evolution of sharp fronts for the surface quasi‐geostrophic (QG) equation. This problem is the analogue to the vortex patch problem for the two‐dimensional Euler equation. The special interest of the quasi‐geostrophic equation lies in its strong similarities with the three‐dimensional Euler equation, while being a two‐dimen‐sional model. In particular, an analogue of the problem considered here, the evolution of sharp fronts for QG, is the evolution of a vortex line for the three‐dimensional Euler equation. The rigorous derivation of an equation for the evolution of a vortex line is still an open problem. The influence of the singularity appearing in the velocity when using the Biot‐Savart law still needs to be understood. We present two derivations for the evolution of a periodic sharp front. The first one, heuristic, shows the presence of a logarithmic singularity in the velocity, while the second, making use of weak solutions, obtains a rigorous equation for the evolution explaining the influence of that term in the evolution of the curve. Finally, using a Nash‐Moser argument as the main tool, we obtain local existence and uniqueness of a solution for the derived equation in the C^∞ case. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

On the density of Birkhoff sums for Anosov diffeomorphisms

Let f : M → M be an Anosov diffeomorphism on a nilmanifold. We consider Birkhoff sums for a Holder continuous observation along periodic orbits. We show that if there are two Birkhoff sums distributed at both sides of zero, then the set of Birkhoff sums of all the periodic points is dense in R.     

Long time existence for a slightly perturbed vortex sheet

Consider a flat two-dimensional vortex sheet perturbed initially by a small analytic disturbance. By a formal perturbation analysis, Moore derived an approximate differential equation for the evolution of the vortex sheet. We present a simplified derivation of Moore's approximate equation and analyze errors in the approximation. The result is used to prove existence of smooth solutions for long time. If the initial perturbation is of size ? and is analytic in a strip |??m γ| < ρ, existence of a smooth solution of Birkhoff's equation is shown for time t < k2p, if ? is sufficiently small, with κ → 1 as ? → 0. For the particular case of sinusoidal data of wave length π and amplitude e, Moore's analysis and independent numerical results show singularity development at time t^c = |log ?| + O(log|log ?|. Our results prove existence for t < κ|log ?|, if ? is sufficiently small, with k κ → 1 as ? → 0. Thus our existence results are nearly optimal.     

On a wave map equation arising in general relativity

We consider a class of space‐times for which the essential part of Einstein's equations can be written as a wave map equation. The domain is not the standard one, but the target is hyperbolic space. One ends up with a 1 + 1 nonlinear wave equation, where the space variable belongs to the circle and the time variable belongs to the positive real numbers. The main objective of this paper is to analyze the asymptotics of solutions to these equations as t → ∞. For each point in time, the solution defines a loop in hyperbolic space, and the first result is that the length of this loop tends to 0 as t^?1/2 as t → ∞. In other words, the solution in some sense becomes spatially homogeneous. However, the asymptotic behavior need not be similar to that of spatially homogeneous solutions to the equations. The orbits of such solutions are either a point or a geodesic in the hyperbolic plane. In the nonhomogeneous case, one gets the following asymptotic behavior in the upper half‐plane (after applying an isometry of hyperbolic space if necessary):

• 1 The solution converges to a point.
• 2 The solution converges to the origin on the boundary along a straight line (which need not be perpendicular to the boundary).
• 3 The solution goes to infinity along a curve y = const.
• 4 The solution oscillates around a circle inside the upper half‐plane.

Thus, even though the solutions become spatially homogeneous in the sense that the spatial variations die out, the asymptotic behavior may be radically different from anything observed for spatially homogeneous solutions of the equations. This analysis can then be applied to draw conclusions concerning the associated class of space‐times. For instance, one obtains the leading‐order behavior of the functions appearing in the metric, and one can conclude future causal geodesic completeness. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Regularising discretizations of the Birkhoff-Rott equation

A thin shear layer moving from the trailing edge of a two-dimensional aerofoil section downstream can be interpreted as a curve of discontinuity for the tangential velocity and may be approximated by a vortex sheet in inviscid, incompressible fluid flow. It is well known that vortex sheets are subject to instabilities of Kelvin-Helmholtz type which lead to roll-up phenomena in the wake. The motion of such sheets is governed by the Birkhoff-Rott equation. In the case of Kelvin-Helmholtz instability it seems clear that a curvature singularity occurs at a certain critical time and that consistent discretizations of the Birkhoff-Rott equation may fail to yield reliable results even before the time of occurrence of a singularity. We discuss the modification of the Biot-Savart kernel in the sense of Krasny who regularized the kernel by means of a global parameter. Using discrete Fourier transform we show the damping influence of this regularization technique. We modify the kernel carefully by introducing a regularization found in ordinary vortex methods and show that reliable results may be obtained up to and slightly after the singularity formation without increasing the accuracy of the computation.     

Birkhoff-recurrent solutions to algebraic equations

The paper considers algebraic equations whose coefficients are continuous functions given on a connected topological group. It is proven that if the vector function made up of the coefficients is recurrent in the sense of Birkhoff and if the discriminant of the equation never vanishes, then each continuous solution is recurrent. The proof is based on the theory of extensions of dynamic systems.Translated from Matematicheskie Zametki, Vol. 12, No. 4, pp. 617–623, April, 1973.     

Long-wave instabilities and saturation in thin film equations

Hocherman and Rosenau conjectured that long-wave unstable Cahn-Hilliard-type interface models develop finite-time singularities when the nonlinearity in the destabilizing term grows faster at large amplitudes than the nonlinearity in the stabilizing term (Phys.˜ D 67, 1993, pp. 113–125). We consider this conjecture for a class of equations, often used to model thin films in a lubrication context, by showing that if the solutions are uniformly bounded above or below (e.g., are nonnegative), then the destabilizing term can be stronger than previously conjectured yet the solution still remains globally bounded. For example, they conjecture that for the long-wave unstable equation m > n leads to blowup. Using a conservation-of-volume constraint for the case m > n > 0, we conjecture a different critical exponent for possible singularities of nonnegative solutions. We prove that nonlinearities with exponents below the conjectured critical exponent yield globally bounded solutions. Specifically, for the above equation, solutions are bounded if m < n + 2. The bound is proved using energy methods and is then used to prove the existence of nonnegative weak solutions in the sense of distributions. We present preliminary numerical evidence suggesting that m ≥ n + 2 can allow blowup. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Sharp interface limit for invariant measures of a stochastic Allen‐Cahn equation

The invariant measure of a one‐dimensional Allen‐Cahn equation with an additive space‐time white noise is studied. This measure is absolutely continuous with respect to a Brownian bridge with a density that can be interpreted as a potential energy term. We consider the sharp interface limit in this setup. In the right scaling this corresponds to a Gibbs‐type measure on a growing interval with decreasing temperature. Our main result is that in the limit we still see exponential convergence towards a curve of minimizers of the energy if the interval does not grow too fast. In the original scaling, the measure is concentrated on configurations with precisely one jump. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The heat equation under conditions on the moments in higher dimensions

We consider the heat equation on the N‐dimensional cube (0, 1)^N and impose different classes of integral conditions, instead of usual boundary ones. Well‐posedness results for the heat equation under the condition that the moments of order 0 and 1 are conserved had been known so far only in the case of , for which such conditions can be easily interpreted as conservation of mass and barycenter. In this paper we show that in the case of general N the heat equation with such integral conditions is still well‐posed, upon suitably relaxing the notion of solution. Existence of solutions with general initial data in a suitable space of distributions over (0, 1)^N are proved by introducing two appropriate realizations of the Laplacian and checking by form methods that they generate analytic semigroups. The solution thus obtained turns out to solve the heat equation only in a certain distributional sense. However, one of these realizations is tightly related to a well‐known object of operator theory, the Krein–von Neumann extension of the Laplacian. This connection also establishes well‐posedness in a classical sense, as long as the initial data are L²‐functions.     

Nontopological N‐vortex condensates for the self‐dual Chern‐Simons theory

We prove the existence of nontopological N‐vortex solutions for an arbitrary number N of vortex points for the self‐dual Chern‐Simons‐Higgs theory with 't Hooft “periodic” boundary conditions. We use a shadowing‐type lemma to glue together any number of single vortices obtained as a perturbation of a radially symmetric entire solution of the Liouville equation. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Concentration on curves for nonlinear Schrödinger Equations

We consider the problem where p > 1, ε > 0 is a small parameter, and V is a uniformly positive, smooth potential. Let Γ be a closed curve, nondegenerate geodesic relative to the weighted arc length ∫_Γ V^σ, where σ = (p + 1)/(p ? 1) ? 1/2. We prove the existence of a solution u_? concentrating along the whole of Γ, exponentially small in ε at any positive distance from it, provided that ε is small and away from certain critical numbers. In particular, this establishes the validity of a conjecture raised in 3 in the two‐dimensional case. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Quadratic optimal control of stable well-posed linear systems

We consider the infinite horizon quadratic cost minimization problem for a stable time-invariant well-posed linear system in the sense of Salamon and Weiss, and show that it can be reduced to a spectral factorization problem in the control space. More precisely, we show that the optimal solution of the quadratic cost minimization problem is of static state feedback type if and only if a certain spectral factorization problem has a solution. If both the system and the spectral factor are regular, then the feedback operator can be expressed in terms of the Riccati operator, and the Riccati operator is a positive self-adjoint solution of an algebraic Riccati equation. This Riccati equation is similar to the usual algebraic Riccati equation, but one of its coefficients varies depending on the subspace in which the equation is posed. Similar results are true for unstable systems, as we have proved elsewhere.

     

Optimization and Variational Inequalities with Pseudoconvex Functions

In the present paper we consider a pseudoconvex (in an extended sense) function f using higher order Dini directional derivatives. A Variational Inequality, which is a refinement of the Stampacchia Variational Inequality, is defined. We prove that the solution set of this problem coincides with the set of global minimizers of f if and only if f is pseudoconvex. We introduce a notion of pseudomonotone Dini directional derivatives (in an extended sense). It is applied to prove that the solution sets of the Stampacchia Variational Inequality and Minty Variational Inequality coincide if and only if the function is pseudoconvex. At last, we obtain several characterizations of the solution set of a program with a pseudoconvex objective function.     

Application of the exp‐function method to nonlinear lattice differential equations for multi‐wave and rational solutions

In this paper, we extend the basic Exp‐function method to nonlinear lattice differential equations for constructing multi‐wave and rational solutions for the first time. We consider a differential‐difference analogue of the Korteweg–de Vries equation to elucidate the solution procedure. Our approach is direct and unifying in the sense that the bilinear formalism of the equation studied becomes redundant. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Dissipative Euler Flows for Vortex Sheet Initial Data without Distinguished Sign

We construct infinitely many admissible weak solutions to the 2D incompressible Euler equations for vortex sheet initial data. Our initial datum has vorticity concentrated on a simple closed curve in a suitable Hölder space and the vorticity may not have a distinguished sign. Our solutions are obtained by means of convex integration; they are smooth outside a “turbulence” zone which grows linearly in time around the vortex sheet. As a by-product, this approach shows how the growth of the turbulence zone is controlled by the local energy inequality and measures the maximal initial dissipation rate in terms of the vortex sheet strength. © 2021 The Authors. Communications on Pure and Applied Mathematics published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.     

Nonlinear Dynamics of Non-uniform Current-Vortex Sheets in Magnetohydrodynamic Flows

A theoretical model is proposed to describe fully nonlinear dynamics of interfaces in two-dimensional MHD flows based on an idea of non-uniform current-vortex sheet. Application of vortex sheet model to MHD flows has a crucial difficulty because of non-conservative nature of magnetic tension. However, it is shown that when a magnetic field is initially parallel to an interface, the concept of vortex sheet can be extended to MHD flows (current-vortex sheet). Two-dimensional MHD flows are then described only by a one-dimensional Lagrange parameter on the sheet. It is also shown that bulk magnetic field and velocity can be calculated from their values on the sheet. The model is tested by MHD Richtmyer–Meshkov instability with sinusoidal vortex sheet strength. Two-dimensional ideal MHD simulations show that the nonlinear dynamics of a shocked interface with density stratification agrees fairly well with that for its corresponding potential flow. Numerical solutions of the model reproduce properly the results of the ideal MHD simulations, such as the roll-up of spike, exponential growth of magnetic field, and its saturation and oscillation. Nonlinear evolution of the interface is found to be determined by the Alfvén and Atwood numbers. Some of their dependence on the sheet dynamics and magnetic field amplification are discussed. It is shown by the model that the magnetic field amplification occurs locally associated with the nonlinear dynamics of the current-vortex sheet. We expect that our model can be applicable to a wide variety of MHD shear flows.     

On the convergence of the vortex loop method with regularization for the Neumann boundary value problem on a plane screen

We consider a linear integral equation with a supersingular integral treated in the sense of the Hadamard finite value, which arises in the solution of the Neumann boundary value problem for the Laplace equation with the representation of the solution in the form of a doublelayer potential. We consider the case in which the exterior boundary value problem is solved outside a plane surface (a screen). For the integral operator in the above-mentioned equation, we suggest quadrature formulas of the vortex loop method with regularization, which provide its approximation on the entire surface when using an unstructured partition. In the problem in question, the derivative of the unknown density of the double-layer potential, as well as the errors of quadrature formulas, has singularities in a neighborhood of the screen edge. We construct a numerical scheme for the integral equation on the basis of the suggested quadrature formulas and prove an estimate for the norm of the inverse matrix of the resulting system of linear equations and the uniform convergence of the numerical solutions to the exact solution of the supersingular integral equation on the grid.     

Birkhoff normal form for splitting methods applied to semilinear Hamiltonian PDEs. Part I. Finite-dimensional discretization

We consider discretized Hamiltonian PDEs associated with a Hamiltonian function that can be split into a linear unbounded operator and a regular nonlinear part. We consider splitting methods associated with this decomposition. Using a finite-dimensional Birkhoff normal form result, we show the almost preservation of the actions of the numerical solution associated with the splitting method over arbitrary long time and for asymptotically large level of space approximation, provided the Sobolev norm of the initial data is small enough. This result holds under generic non-resonance conditions on the frequencies of the linear operator and on the step size. We apply these results to nonlinear Schrödinger equations as well as the nonlinear wave equation.     

A quantization property for static Ginzburg‐Landau vortices

For any critical point of the complex Ginzburg‐Landau functional in dimension 3, we prove that, for large coupling constants, ; if the energy of this critical point on a ball of a given radius r is relatively small compared to r log , then the ball of half‐radius contains no vortex (the modulus of the solution is larger than ½). We then show how this property can be applied to describe limiting vortices as ε → 0. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.