Steady transonic shocks and free boundary problems in infinite cylinders for the Euler equations

We establish the existence and stability of multidimensional transonic shocks (hyperbolic‐elliptic shocks) for the Euler equations for steady compressible potential fluids in infinite cylinders. The Euler equations, consisting of the conservation law of mass and the Bernoulli law for velocity, can be written as a second order nonlinear equation of mixed elliptic‐hyperbolic type for the velocity potential. The transonic shock problem in an infinite cylinder can be formulated into the following free boundary problem: The free boundary is the location of the multidimensional transonic shock which divides two regions of C^1,α flow in the infinite cylinder, and the equation is hyperbolic in the upstream region where the C^1,α perturbed flow is supersonic. We develop a nonlinear approach to deal with such a free boundary problem in order to solve the transonic shock problem in unbounded domains. Our results indicate that there exists a solution of the free boundary problem such that the equation is always elliptic in the unbounded downstream region, the uniform velocity state at infinity in the downstream direction is uniquely determined by the given hyperbolic phase, and the free boundary is C^1,α, provided that the hyperbolic phase is close in C^1,α to a uniform flow. We further prove that, if the steady perturbation of the hyperbolic phase is C^2,α, the free boundary is C^2,α and stable under the steady perturbation. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals Inc.     

Domain decomposition methods for hyperbolic problems

In this paper a method is developed for solving hyperbolic initial boundary value problems in one space dimension using domain decomposition, which can be extended to problems in several space dimensions. We minimize a functional which is the sum of squares of the L ² norms of the residuals and a term which is the sum of the squares of the L ² norms of the jumps in the function across interdomain boundaries. To make the problem well posed the interdomain boundaries are made to move back and forth at alternate time steps with sufficiently high speed. We construct parallel preconditioners and obtain error estimates for the method. The Schwarz waveform relaxation method is often employed to solve hyperbolic problems using domain decomposition but this technique faces difficulties if the system becomes characteristic at the inter-element boundaries. By making the inter-element boundaries move faster than the fastest wave speed associated with the hyperbolic system we are able to overcome this problem.     

A Priori Error Estimates of Crank–Nicolson Finite Volume Element Method for a Hyperbolic Optimal Control Problem

In this article, a Crank–Nicolson linear finite volume element scheme is developed to solve a hyperbolic optimal control problem. We use the variational discretization technique for the approximation of the control variable. The optimal convergent order O(h² + k²) is proved for the numerical solution of the control, state and adjoint‐state in a discrete L²‐norm. To derive this result, we also get the error estimate (convergent order O(h² + k²)) of Crank–Nicolson finite volume element approximation for the second‐order hyperbolic initial boundary value problem. Numerical experiments are presented to verify the theoretical results.© 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 32: 1331–1356, 2016     

Global exact boundary observability for first‐order quasilinear hyperbolic systems of diagonal form

In this paper, by means of a constructive method based on the theory of the existence and the uniqueness of the C¹ solution to the Cauchy problem and the Goursat problem, the global exact boundary observability for the first‐order quasilinear hyperbolic systems of diagonal form with linearly degenerate characteristics is obtained. In the case that the system has no zero characteristics, we realize the two‐sided and one‐sided global exact boundary observability by the boundary observed values and obtain the observability inequality. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Global existence of classical solutions of Goursat problem for quasilinear hyperbolic systems with BV data

We investigate the existence of a global classical solution to the Goursat problem for linearly degenerate quasilinear hyperbolic systems. As the result in [A. Bressan, Contractive metrics for nonlinear hyperbolic systems, Indiana Univ. Math. J. 37 (1988) 409–421] suggests that one may achieve global smoothness even if the C¹ norm of the initial data is large, we prove that, if the C¹ norm of the boundary data is bounded but possibly large, and the BV norm of the boundary data is sufficiently small, then the solution remains C¹ globally in time. Applications include the equation of time‐like extremal surfaces in Minkowski space R^{1 + (1 + n)} and the one‐dimensional Chaplygin gas equations. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Pseudo‐reflection phenomena for singularities in thin elastic shells

We consider problems of statics of thin elastic shells with hyperbolic middle surface subjected to boundary conditions ensuring the geometric rigidity of the surface. The asymptotic behaviour of the solutions when the relative thickness tends to zero is then given by the membrane approximation. It is a hyperbolic problem propagating singularities along the characteristics. We address here the reflection phenomena when the propagated singularities arrive to a boundary. As the boundary conditions are not the classical ones for a hyperbolic system, there are various cases of reflection. Roughly speaking, singularities provoked elsewhere are not reflected at all at a free boundary, whereas at a fixed (or clamped) boundary the reflected singularity is less singular than the incident one. Reflection of singularities provoked along a non‐characteristic curve C are also considered. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Finite element approximations to one‐phase nonlinear free boundary problem in groundwater contamination flow

In this article, we consider a single‐phase coupled nonlinear Stefan problem of the water‐head and concentration equations with nonlinear source and permeance terms and a Dirichlet boundary condition depending on the free‐boundary function. The problem is very important in subsurface contaminant transport and remediation, seawater intrusion and control, and many other applications. While a Landau type transformation is introduced to immobilize the free boundary, a transformation for the water‐head and concentration functions is defined to deal with the nonhomogeneous Dirichlet boundary condition, which depends on the free boundary function. An H¹‐finite element method for the problem is then proposed and analyzed. The existence of the approximation solution is established, and error estimates are obtained for both the semi‐discrete schemes and the fully discrete schemes. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq, 2006     

Global solutions with shock waves to the generalized Riemann problem for a class of quasilinear hyperbolic systems of balance laws II

This work is a continuation of our previous work. In the present paper, we study the existence and uniqueness of global piecewise C¹ solutions with shock waves to the generalized Riemann problem for general quasilinear hyperbolic systems of conservation laws with linear damping in the presence of a boundary. It is shown that the generalized Riemann problem for general quasilinear hyperbolic systems of conservation laws with linear damping with nonlinear boundary conditions in the half space {(t, x) | t ≥ 0, x ≥ 0} admits a unique global piecewise C¹ solution u = u (t, x) containing only shock waves with small amplitude and this solution possesses a global structure similar to that of a self‐similar solution u = U (x /t) of the corresponding homogeneous Riemann problem, if each characteristic field with positive velocity is genuinely nonlinear and the corresponding homogeneous Riemann problem has only shock waves but no rarefaction waves and contact discontinuities. This result is also applied to shock reflection for the flow equations of a model class of fluids with viscosity induced by fading memory. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Exact boundary controllability for a kind of second‐order quasilinear hyperbolic systems and its applications

In this paper, by means of a constructive method based on the existence and uniqueness of the semi‐global C² solution, we establish the local exact boundary controllability for a kind of second‐order quasilinear hyperbolic systems. As an application, we obtain the one‐sided local exact boundary controllability for the first‐order quasilinear hyperbolic systems of diagonal form with boundary conditions in which the diagonal variables corresponding to the positive eigenvalues and those corresponding to the negative eigenvalues are decoupled. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On the hyperbolic limit points of groups acting on hyperbolic spaces

We study the hyperbolic limit points of a groupG acting on a hyperbolic metric space, and consider the question of whether any attractive limit point corresponds to a unique repulsive limit point. In the special case whereG is a (non-elementary) finitely generated hyperbolic group acting on its Cayley graph, the answer is affirmative, and the resulting mapg ⁺↦g ⁻, is discontinuous everywhere on the hyperbolic boundary. We also provide a direct, combinatorial proof in the special case whereG is a (non-abelian) free group of finite type, by characterizing algebraically the hyperbolic ends ofG. Partially supported by a grant from M.U.R.S.T., Italy.     

The combined relaxation and vanishing Debye length limit in the hydrodynamic model for semiconductors

The combined relaxation and vanishing Debye length limit for the hydrodynamic model for semiconductors is considered in both the unipolar and the bipolar case. The resulting limit problems are non‐linear drift driven hyperbolic equations. We make use of non‐standard entropy functions and the related entropy productions in order to obtain uniform estimates. In the bipolar case additional time‐dependent L^∞‐type estimates, available from the existence theory, are needed in order to control the entropy production terms. Finally, strong convergence of the electric field allows the limit towards the limiting problem. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Regularity of free boundaries of two‐phase problems for fully nonlinear elliptic equations of second order I. Lipschitz free boundaries are C1,α

In this paper, we study an extension of a C^1,α regularity theory developed by L. Caffarelli in [2] to some fully nonlinear elliptic equations of second order. In fact, we investigate a two‐phase free boundary problem in which a fully nonlinear elliptic equation of second order is verified by the solution in the positive and the negative domains. Assuming the free boundary is locally a Lipschitz graph, we have established the C^1,α regularity of the free boundary. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Regularity of solutions to regular shock reflection for potential flow

The shock reflection problem is one of the most important problems in mathematical fluid dynamics, since this problem not only arises in many important physical situations but also is fundamental for the mathematical theory of multidimensional conservation laws that is still largely incomplete. However, most of the fundamental issues for shock reflection have not been understood, including the regularity and transition of different patterns of shock reflection configurations. Therefore, it is important to establish the regularity of solutions to shock reflection in order to understand fully the phenomena of shock reflection. On the other hand, for a regular reflection configuration, the potential flow governs the exact behavior of the solution in C ^1,1 across the pseudo-sonic circle even starting from the full Euler flow, that is, both of the nonlinear systems are actually the same in a physically significant region near the pseudo-sonic circle; thus, it becomes essential to understand the optimal regularity of solutions for the potential flow across the pseudo-sonic circle (the transonic boundary from the elliptic to hyperbolic region) and at the point where the pseudo-sonic circle (the degenerate elliptic curve) meets the reflected shock (a free boundary connecting the elliptic to hyperbolic region). In this paper, we study the regularity of solutions to regular shock reflection for potential flow. In particular, we prove that the C ^1,1-regularity is optimal for the solution across the pseudo-sonic circle and at the point where the pseudo-sonic circle meets the reflected shock. We also obtain the C ^2,α regularity of the solution up to the pseudo-sonic circle in the pseudo-subsonic region. The problem involves two types of transonic flow: one is a continuous transition through the pseudo-sonic circle from the pseudo-supersonic region to the pseudo-subsonic region; the other a jump transition through the transonic shock as a free boundary from another pseudo-supersonic region to the pseudo-subsonic region. The techniques and ideas developed in this paper will be useful to other regularity problems for nonlinear degenerate equations involving similar difficulties.     

Well-posedness of the Hydrodynamic Model for Semiconductors

This paper concerns the well-posedness of the hydrodynamic model for semiconductor devices, a quasi-linear elliptic–parbolic–hyperbolic system. Boundary conditions for elliptic and parabolic equations are Dirichlet conditions while boundary conditions for the hyperbolic equations are assumed to be well-posed in L² sense. Maximally strictly dissipative boundary conditions for the hyperbolic equations satisfy the assumption of well-posedness in L² sense. The well-posedness of the model under the boundary conditions is demonstrated.     

Convergence to equilibrium for a fully hyperbolic phase‐field model with Cattaneo heat flux law

We consider a fully hyperbolic phase‐field model in this paper. Our model consists of a damped hyperbolic equation of second order with respect to the phase function χ(t) , which is coupled with a hyperbolic system of first order with respect to the relative temperature θ(t) and the heat flux vector q (t). We prove the well‐posedness of this system subject to homogeneous Neumann boundary condition and no‐heat flux boundary condition. Then, we show that this dynamical system is a dissipative one. Finally, using the celebrated ?ojasiewicz–Simon inequality and by constructing an auxiliary functional, we prove that the solution of this problem converges to an equilibrium as time goes to infinity. We also obtain an estimate of the decay rate to equilibrium. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Numerical solution of first‐order hyperbolic partial differential‐difference equation with shift

In this article, we continue the numerical study of hyperbolic partial differential‐difference equation that was initiated in (Sharma and Singh, Appl Math Comput 9 ). In Sharma and Singh, the authors consider the problem with sufficiently small shift arguments. The term negative shift and positive shift are used for delay and advance arguments, respectively. Here, we propose a numerical scheme that works nicely irrespective of the size of shift arguments. In this article, we consider hyperbolic partial differential‐difference equation with negative or positive shift and present a numerical scheme based on the finite difference method for solving such type of initial and boundary value problems. The proposed numerical scheme is analyzed for stability and convergence in L^∞ norm. Finally, some test examples are given to validate convergence, the computational efficiency of the numerical scheme and the effect of shift arguments on the solution.© 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq, 2010     

Exact boundary observability for nonautonomous first-order quasilinear hyperbolic systems

By means of the theory on the semiglobal C¹ solution to the mixed initial-boundary value problem for first-order quasilinear hyperbolic systems, we establish the local exact boundary observability for general nonautonomous first-order quasilinear hyperbolic systems without zero eigenvalues and reveal the essential difference between nonautonomous hyperbolic systems and autonomous hyperbolic systems. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Probing for electrical inclusions with complex spherical waves

Let a physical body Ω in ?² or ?³ be given. Assume that the electric conductivity distribution inside Ω consists of conductive inclusions in a known smooth background. Further, assume that a subset Γ ? ?Ω is available for boundary measurements. It is proved using hyperbolic geometry that certain information about the location of the inclusions can be exactly recovered from static electric measurements on Γ. More precisely: given a ball B with center outside the convex hull of Ω and satisfying (B? ∩ ?Ω) ? Γ, boundary measurements on Γ with explicitly given Dirichlet data are enough to determine whether B intersects the inclusion. An approximate detection algorithm is introduced based on the theory. Numerical experiments in dimension two with simulated noisy data suggest that the algorithm finds the inclusion‐free domain near Γ and is robust against measurement noise. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

On the existence of incompressible current–vortex sheets: study of a linearized free boundary value problem

We study the initial boundary value problem resulting from the linearization of the equations of ideal incompressible magnetohydrodynamics and the jump conditions on the hypersurface of tangential discontinuity (current–vortex sheet) about an unsteady piecewise smooth solution. Under some assumptions on the unperturbed flow, we prove an energy a priori estimate for the linearized problem. Since the so‐called loss of derivatives in the normal direction to the boundary takes place even for the constant coefficients linearized problem, for the variable coefficients problem and non‐planar current–vortex sheets the natural functional setting is provided by the anisotropic weighted Sobolev space W₂^1,σ. The result of this paper is a necessary step to prove the local in time existence of solutions of the original non‐linear free boundary value problem. The uniqueness of the regular solution of this problem follows already from the a priori estimate we obtain for the linearized problem. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A solvable hyperbolic free boundary problem modelling tumour regrowth

Recently, Tian and Friedman et al. developed a mathematical model on brain tumour recurrence after resection [J.P. Tian, A. Friedman, J. Wang and E.A. Chiocca, Modeling the effects of resection, radiation and chemotherapy in glioblastoma, J. Neuro-Oncol. 91(3) (2009), pp. 287–293]. The model is a free boundary problem with a hyperbolic system of nonlinear partial differential equations. In this article, we conduct a rigorous analysis on this hyperbolic system and prove the local and global existence and uniqueness of the solution. It is well known that most nonlinear free boundary problems are impossible to solve in terms of explicit analytical solutions. In contrast, the free boundary problem in this study is solvable, and the explicit solution is found using the backward characteristic curve method. This explicit solution is then validated by numerical simulation results. An interesting finding in this study is that the problem can be treated as a hyperbolic system defined on an infinite domain where the initial condition has a first-type discontinuity.