A local monotonicity formula for an inhomogeneous singular perturbation problem and applications: Part II

In this paper we continue with our work in Lederman and Wolanski (Ann Math Pura Appl 187(2):197–220, 2008) where we developed a local monotonicity formula for solutions to an inhomogeneous singular perturbation problem of interest in combustion theory. There we proved local monotonicity formulae for solutions u^e{{u^\varepsilon}} to the singular perturbation problem and for u=limu^e{u=\lim{u^\varepsilon}} , assuming that both u^e{{u^\varepsilon}} and u were defined in an arbitrary domain D{\mathcal{D}} in \mathbbR^N+1{\mathbb{R}^{N+1}} . In the present work we obtain global monotonicity formulae for limit functions u that are globally defined, while u^e{{u^\varepsilon}} are not. We derive such global formulae from a local one that we prove here. In particular, we obtain a global monotonicity formula for blow up limits u ₀ of limit functions u that are not globally defined. As a consequence of this formula, we characterize blow up limits u ₀ in terms of the value of a density at the blow up point. We also present applications of the results in this paper to the study of the regularity of ∂{u > 0} (the flame front in combustion models). The fact that our results hold for the inhomogeneous singular perturbation problem allows a very wide applicability, for instance to problems with nonlocal diffusion and/or transport.     

The behavior of the free boundary near the fixed boundary for a minimization problem

We show that the free boundary ∂{u > 0}, arising from the minimizer(s) u, of the functional

Some Optimization Problems for <Emphasis Type="Italic">p</Emphasis>-Laplacian Type Equations

In this paper we study some optimization problems for nonlinear elastic membranes. More precisely, we consider the problem of optimizing the cost functional over some admissible class of loads f where u is the (unique) solution to the problem −Δ _p u+|u| ^p−2 u=0 in Ω with |∇ u| ^p−2 u _ν =f on ∂Ω. Supported by Universidad de Buenos Aires under grant X078, by ANPCyT PICT No. 2006-290 and CONICET (Argentina) PIP 5478/1438. J. Fernández Bonder is a member of CONICET. Leandro M. Del Pezzo is a fellow of CONICET.     

A bifurcation problem governed by the boundary condition I

We deal with positive solutions of Δu = a(x)u ^p in a bounded smooth domain subject to the boundary condition ∂u/∂v = λu, λ a parameter, p > 1. We prove that this problem has a unique positive solution if and only if 0 < λ < σ₁ where, roughly speaking, σ₁ is finite if and only if |∂Ω ∩ {a = 0}| > 0 and coincides with the first eigenvalue of an associated eigenvalue problem. Moreover, we find the limit profile of the solution as λ → σ₁. Supported by DGES and FEDER under grant BFM2001-3894 (J. García-Melián and J. Sabina) and ANPCyT PICT No. 03-05009 (J. D. Rossi). J.D. Rossi is a member of CONICET.     

Evolution equations with a free boundary condition

In this paper we consider the heat flow of harmonic maps between two compact Riemannian Manifolds M and N (without boundary) with a free boundary condition. That is, the following initial boundary value problem ∂₁,u −Δu = Γ(u)(∇u, ∇u) [tT T_{u u}N, on M × [0, ∞), u(t, x) ∈ Σ, for x ∈ ∂M, t > 0, ∂u/t6n(t, x) ⊥_u T_u(t,x) Σ, for x ∈ ∂M, t > 0, u(o,x) = u_o(x), on M, where Σ is a smooth submanifold without boundary in N and n is a unit normal vector field of M along ∂M. Due to the higher nonlinearity of the boundary condition, the estimate near the boundary poses considerable difficulties, even for the case N = ℝⁿ, in which the nonlinear equation reduces to ∂_tu-Δu = 0. We proved the local existence and the uniqueness of the regular solution by a localized reflection method and the Leray-Schauder fixed point theorem. We then established the energy monotonicity formula and small energy regularity theorem for the regular solutions. These facts are used in this paper to construct various examples to show that the regular solutions may develop singularities in a finite time. A general blow-up theorem is also proven. Moreover, various a priori estimates are discussed to obtain a lower bound of the blow-up time. We also proved a global existence theorem of regular solutions under some geometrical conditions on N and Σ which are weaker than K_N <-0 and Σ is totally geodesic in N.     

Boundary functions on a bounded balanced domain

We solve the following Dirichlet problem on the bounded balanced domain with some additional properties: For p > 0 and a positive lower semi-continuous function u on ∂Ω with u(z) = u(λ z) for |λ| = 1, z ∈ ∂Ω we construct a holomorphic function f ∈ (Ω) such that for z ∈ ∂Ω, where = {λ ∈ ℂ: |λ| < 1}.      

Harnack inequalities, maximum and comparison principles, and regularity of positive solutions of m-laplace equations

We consider the Dirichlet problem for positive solutions of the equation −Δ_m (u) = f(u) in a bounded smooth domain Ω, with f positive and locally Lipschitz continuous. We prove a Harnack type inequality for the solutions of the linearized operator, a Harnack type comparison inequality for the solutions, and exploit them to prove a Strong Comparison Principle for solutions of the equation, as well as a Strong Maximum Principle for the solutions of the linearized operator. We then apply these results, together with monotonicity results recently obtained by the authors, to get regularity results for the solutions. In particular we prove that in convex and symmetric domains, the only point where the gradient of a solution u vanishes is the center of symmetry (i.e. Z≡{x∈ Ω ∨ D(u)(x) = 0 = {0} assuming that 0 is the center of symmetry). This is crucial in the study of m-Laplace equations, since Z is exactly the set of points where the m-Laplace operator is degenerate elliptic. As a corollary u ∈ C²(Ω∖{0}). Supported by MURST, Project “Metodi Variazionali ed Equazioni Differenziali Non Lineari.” Mathematics Subject Classification (1991) 35B05, 35B65, 35J70     

A Fully Nonlinear Nonhomogeneous Neumann Problem

Let Ω be an open bounded set in ℝ^N, N≥3, with connected Lipschitz boundary ∂Ω and let a(x,ξ) be an operator of Leray–Lions type (a(⋅,∇u) is of the same type as the operator |∇u|^p−2∇u, 1<p<N). If τ is the trace operator on ∂Ω, [φ] the jump across ∂Ω of a function φ defined on both sides of ∂Ω, the normal derivative ∂/∂ν_a related to the operator a is defined in some sense as 〈a(⋅,∇u),ν〉, the inner product in ℝ^N, of the trace of a(⋅,∇u) on ∂Ω with the outward normal vector field ν on ∂Ω. If β and γ are two nondecreasing continuous real functions everywhere defined in ℝ, with β(0)=γ(0)=0, f∈L¹(ℝ^N), g∈L¹(∂Ω), we prove the existence and the uniqueness of an entropy solution u for the following problem,

A variational approach in weighted Sobolev spaces to the operator −Δ+∂/∂x 1 in exterior domains of ℝ3

Consider the Dirichlet problem −vΔu+k∂ ₁ u = f withv, k>0 in ℝ³ or in an exterior domain of ℝ³ where the skew-symmetric differential operator −₁=∂/∂x₁ is a singular perturbation of the Laplacian. Because of the inhomogeneity of the fundamental solution we study existence, uniqueness and regularity in Sobolev spaces with anisotropic weights. In these spaces the operator ∂₁ yields an additional positive definite term giving better results than in Sobolev spaces with radial weights. The elliptic equation −vΔu +k∂₁ u=f can be taken as a model problem for the Oseen equations, a linearized form of the Navier-Stokes equations. Supported by the Sonderforschungsbereich 256 of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft at the University of Bonn     

La riflessione analitica delle funzioni biarmoniche attorno a un cerchio ed alcuni problemi di elasticità piana

Sunto Due funzionif(x, y) e ϕ(x, y), biarmoniche (e cioè soddisfacenti all'equazione ΔΔ=0), rispettivamente definite nei semipianix>0 edx<0, le cui derivate seconde si annullano all'infinito, e tali che nei punti dell'assey risultif=ϕ e∂f/∂x=∂ϕ/∂x, si dicono l'una ? riflessa ? dell'altra attorno all'assey. Da ognuna delle due funzionif e ϕ l'altra si ottiene con sole operazioni di sostituzione e derivazione (indicando, precisamente, con{f}, {∂f/∂x} e{Δf} le funzioni che si ottengono daf, ∂f/∂x eΔf ponendo, in queste, in luogo dix il suo contrario −x, si ha ϕ={f}+2x{∂f/∂x}+x ² {Δf} e, reciprocamente,f={ϕ}+2x{∂ϕ/∂x}+x ²{Δϕ}). In modo analogo si definisce una operazione di riflessione analitica attorno a un cerchio. La retta potendosi riguardare come cerchio degenere (di raggio infinito) l'operazione di rifiessione analitica attorno alla retta viene ottenuta, nel testo, come caso limite di quella di riflessione attorno al cerchio. L'operazione di riflessione analitica trova applicazione in alcuni problemi di elasticità piana (perturbazione prodotta da un foro circolare nella sollecitazione di un sistema piano; determinazione degli sforzi in un semipiano elastico sollecitato da una forza applicata in un punto interno).     

Bounds and monotonicity for the generalized Robin problem

We consider the principal eigenvalue λ ₁^Ω(α) corresponding to Δu = λ (α) u in W, \frac?u?v = au \Omega, \frac{\partial u}{\partial v} = \alpha u on ∂Ω, with α a fixed real, and W ì Rⁿ\Omega \subset {\mathcal{R}}^n a C ^0,1 bounded domain. If α > 0 and small, we derive bounds for λ ₁^Ω(α) in terms of a Stekloff-type eigenvalue; while for α > 0 large we study the behavior of its growth in terms of maximum curvature. We analyze how domain monotonicity of the principal eigenvalue depends on the geometry of the domain, and prove that domains which exhibit domain monotonicity for every α are calibrable. We conjecture that a domain has the domain monotonicity property for some α if and only if it is calibrable.     

Existence and regularity properties of non-isotropic singular elliptic equations

We establish existence and sharp regularity results for solutions to singular elliptic equations of the order u ^−β , 0 < β < 1, with gradient dependence and involving a forcing term λ f(x, u). Our approach is based on a singularly perturbed technique. We show that if the forcing parameter λ > 0 is large enough, our solution is positive. For λ small solutions vanish on a nontrivial set and therefore they exhibit free boundaries. We also establish regularity results for the free boundary and study the asymptotic behavior of the problem as b\searrow 0{\beta\searrow 0} and b\nearrow 1{\beta\nearrow 1}. In the former, we show that our solutions u _β converge to a C ^1,1 function which is a solution to an obstacle type problem. When b\nearrow 1{\beta\nearrow 1} we recover the Alt-Caffarelli theory.     

Construction of Rank 2 Semistable Torsion Free Sheaves Which Are Not Limit of Vector Bundles

We show the following theorem of compensated compactness type: Ifu _n ⇁u weakly in the spaceH ^1,p (Ω, ℝ ^k ) and if also in the sense of distributions then ∂_α(∣∇u∣ ^p-2∂_α u)=0. This result has applications in the partial regularity theory ofp-stationary mappings Ω→S ^k −1.     

Global-in-time Uniform Convergence for Linear Hyperbolic-Parabolic Singular Perturbations

We consider the Cauchy problem εu^″ε ＋ δu′ε ＋ Auε = 0, uε（0） = uo, u′ε（0） = ul, where ε 〉 0, δ 〉 0, H is a Hilbert space, and A is a self-adjoint linear non-negative operator on H with dense domain D（A）. We study the convergence of （uε） to the solution of the limit problem ,δu＇ ＋ Au = 0, u（0） = u0. For initial data （u0, u1） ∈ D（A1/2）× H, we prove global-in-time convergence with respect to strong topologies. Moreover, we estimate the convergence rate in the case where （u0, u1）∈ D（A3/2） ∈ D（A1/2）, and we show that this regularity requirement is sharp for our estimates. We give also an upper bound for ｜u′ε（t）｜ which does not depend on ε.     

Precise asymptotic formulas for variational eigencurves of semilinear two-parameter elliptic eigenvalue problems

We consider the two-parameter nonlinear eigenvalue problem?−Δu = μu − λ(u + u ^p + f(u)), u > 0 in Ω, u = 0 on ∂Ω,?where p>1 is a constant and μ,λ>0 are parameters. We establish the asymptotic formulas for the variational eigencurves λ=λ(μ,α) as μ→∞, where α>0 is a normalizing parameter. We emphasize that the critical case from a viewpoint of the two-term asymptotics of the eigencurve is p=3. Moreover, it is shown that p=5/3 is also a critical exponent from a view point of the three-term asymptotics when Ω is a ball or an annulus. This sort of criticality for two-parameter problems seems to be new. Received: February 9, 2002; in final form: April 3, 2002?Published online: April 14, 2003     

Very weak solutions to elliptic equations with nonlinear Neumann boundary conditions

Consider the equation −Δu = 0 in a bounded smooth domain , complemented by the nonlinear Neumann boundary condition ∂_ν u = f(x, u) − u on ∂Ω. We show that any very weak solution of this problem belongs to L ^∞(Ω) provided f satisfies the growth condition |f(x, s)| ≤ C(1 + |s| ^p ) for some p ∈ (1, p*), where . If, in addition, f(x, s) ≥ −C + λs for some λ > 1, then all positive very weak solutions are uniformly a priori bounded. We also show by means of examples that p* is a sharp critical exponent. In particular, using variational methods we prove the following multiplicity result: if N ∈ {3, 4} and f(x, s) =  s ^p then there exists a domain Ω and such that our problem possesses at least two positive, unbounded, very weak solutions blowing up at a prescribed point of ∂Ω provided . Our regularity results and a priori bounds for positive very weak solutions remain true if the right-hand side in the differential equation is of the form h(x, u) with h satisfying suitable growth conditions.     

Almost sure asymptotics for the continuous parabolic Anderson model

We consider the parabolic Anderson problem ∂ _t u = κΔu + ξ(x)u on ℝ₊×ℝ ^d with initial condition u(0,x) = 1. Here κ > 0 is a diffusion constant and ξ is a random homogeneous potential. We concentrate on the two important cases of a Gaussian potential and a shot noise Poisson potential. Under some mild regularity assumptions, we derive the second-order term of the almost sure asymptotics of u(t, 0) as t→∞. Received: 26 July 1999 / Revised version: 6 April 2000 / Published online: 22 November 2000     

Concentration at curves for a singularly perturbed Neumann problem in three-dimensional domains

We prove new concentration phenomena for the equation −ɛ² Δu + u = u^p in a smooth bounded domain and with Neumann boundary conditions. Here p > 1 and ɛ > 0 is small. We show that concentration of solutions occurs at some geodesics of ∂Ω when ɛ → 0. Received: September 2004 Accepted: March 2005     

Bounds and monotonicity for the generalized Robin problem

We consider the principal eigenvalue λ ₁^Ω(α) corresponding to Δu = λ (α) u in on ∂Ω, with α a fixed real, and a C ^0,1 bounded domain. If α > 0 and small, we derive bounds for λ ₁^Ω(α) in terms of a Stekloff-type eigenvalue; while for α > 0 large we study the behavior of its growth in terms of maximum curvature. We analyze how domain monotonicity of the principal eigenvalue depends on the geometry of the domain, and prove that domains which exhibit domain monotonicity for every α are calibrable. We conjecture that a domain has the domain monotonicity property for some α if and only if it is calibrable. Robert Smits: This author was partially supported by a grant of the National Security Agency, grant #H98230-05-1-0060.     

Ill-posedness for semilinear wave equations with very low regularity

In this paper, we study the ill-posdness of the Cauchy problem for semilinear wave equation with very low regularity, where the nonlinear term depends on u and ∂ _t u. We prove a ill-posedness result for the “defocusing” case, and give an alternative proof for the supercritical “focusing” case, which improves the result in Fang and Wang (Chin. Ann. Math. Ser. B 26(3), 361–378, 2005). Supported by NSF of China 10571158.