Weak solutions for nonlocal boundary value problems with low regularity data

This paper concerns the existence and uniqueness of weak solutions for elliptic and parabolic equations under nonlocal boundary conditions, based on maximal regularity. It also gives the positivity of solutions which can be used in monotone iteration methods. As an application, the results are used to discuss some specific nonlocal problems.     

Critical curves of the non-Newtonian polytropic filtration equations coupled with nonlinear boundary conditions

In this paper, we consider the existence and non-existence of global solutions of the non-Newtonian polytropic filtration equations with nonlinear boundary conditions. We first obtain the critical global existence curve by constructing various self-similar supersolutions and subsolutions. And then the critical Fujita curve is conjectured with the aid of some new results.     

On the linearization of some singular, nonlinear elliptic problems and applications

This paper deals with the spectrum of a linear, weighted eigenvalue problem associated with a singular, second order, elliptic operator in a bounded domain, with Dirichlet boundary data. In particular, we analyze the existence and uniqueness of principal eigenvalues. As an application, we extend the usual concepts of linearization and Frechet derivability, and the method of sub and supersolutions to some semilinear, singular elliptic problems.     

The critical curve for a non-Newtonian polytropic filtration system coupled via nonlinear boundary flux

This paper deals with the critical curve of the non-Newtonian polytropic filtration equation coupled via nonlinear boundary flux. The critical global existence curve is obtained by constructing various self-similar supersolutions and subsolutions. Furthermore, we get some new results on the critical Fujita curve.     

Optimization problems on general classes of rearrangements

This paper is concerned with maximization and minimization problems of the energy integral associated to p-Laplace equations depending on functions that belong to a class of rearrangements. We prove existence and uniqueness results, and present some features of optimal solutions. The radial case is discussed in detail. We also prove a result of uniqueness for a class of p-Laplace equations under non-standard assumptions.     

Quasilinear parabolic and elliptic equations with nonlinear boundary conditions

This paper is concerned with a class of quasilinear parabolic and elliptic equations in a bounded domain with both Dirichlet and nonlinear Neumann boundary conditions. The equation under consideration may be degenerate or singular depending on the property of the diffusion coefficient. The consideration of the class of equations is motivated by some heat-transfer problems where the heat capacity and thermal conductivity are both temperature dependent. The aim of the paper is to show the existence and uniqueness of a global time-dependent solution of the parabolic problem, existence of maximal and minimal steady-state solutions of the elliptic problem, including conditions for the uniqueness of a solution, and the asymptotic behavior of the time-dependent solution in relation to the steady-state solutions. Applications are given to some heat-transfer problems and an extended logistic reaction–diffusion equation.     

Evolutionary weighted p-Laplacian with boundary degeneracy

The paper concerns the well-posedness problem of an evolutionary weighted p-Laplacian with boundary degeneracy. Different from the classical theory for linear equations, it is shown that the degenerate portion of the boundary should be decomposed into two parts: the strongly degenerate boundary on which the equation exhibits hyperbolic characteristics and the weakly degenerate boundary on which the equation still exhibits parabolic characteristics. We formulate reasonably the boundary value condition and establish the existence and uniqueness theorems.     

Existence and uniqueness of positive solutions for singular nonlinear elliptic boundary value problems

In this paper we establish the existence and the uniqueness of positive solutions for Dirichlet boundary value problems of nonlinear elliptic equations with singularity. We obtain the existence and the uniqueness by using the mixed monotone method in the cone theory. Moreover, we give an iterative method of constructing the solution. The rate of convergence of the iterative sequence is analyzed.     

Existence and comparison results for noncoercive and nonmonotone multivalued elliptic problems

We consider noncoercive quasilinear elliptic inclusions under multivalued flux boundary conditions involving multifunctions of Clarke’s generalized gradient. Our main goal is to provide existence and comparison results which are based on an appropriate generalization of the notions of subsolutions and supersolutions. Furthermore, compactness and extremality results of the solution set enclosed by an ordered pair of sub–supersolutions will be proved.     

Symmetry results for overdetermined boundary value problems of nonlinear elliptic equations

We prove the radial symmetry of the solutions of second-order nonlinear elliptic equations for overdetermined Dirichlet and Neumann boundary value problems. In addition, a global uniqueness theorem of Holmgren type is given for nonlinear elliptic equations.     

Nonlinear degenerate elliptic equations and axially symmetric problems

We consider semilinear elliptic equations with a principal part degenerating on a boundary hyperplane. Weak existence, uniqueness and regularity of solutions are established by variational methods and by reduction to uniformly elliptic equations. An important application arises in the mathematical treatment of the rotating star problem in general relativity, where the axial symmetry admits the reduction of one of the Einstein equations to a problem of the above form on a meridian half plane. Received February 12, 1997 / Accepted May 15, 1997     

Existence of solutions to quasi-linear elliptic problems with generalized Robin boundary conditions

We characterize the L^q-solvability of a class of quasi-linear elliptic equations involving the p-Laplace operator with generalized nonlinear Robin type boundary conditions on bad domains. Some uniqueness results are also given.     

A free boundary problem modeling the cell cycle and cell movement in multicellular tumor spheroids

This paper deals with a mathematical model describing the cell cycle dynamics and chemotactic driven cell movement in a multicellular tumor spheroid. Tumor cells consist of two types of cells: proliferating cells and quiescent cells, which have different chemotactic responses to an extracellular nutrient supply. The model is a free boundary problem for a nonlinear system of reaction-diffusion-advection equations, where the free boundary is the outer boundary of the spheroid. The free boundary condition is quite novel due to different velocity of two types of cells. The global existence and uniqueness of solutions to the model is proved. The proof is based on a fixed point argument, together with the Lp-theory for parabolic equations with the third boundary condition.     

Linear and nonlinear abstract equations with parameters

This paper focuses on nonlocal boundary value problems for linear and nonlinear abstract elliptic equations in Banach spaces. Here equations and boundary conditions contain certain parameters. The uniform separability of the linear problem and the existence and uniqueness of maximal regular solution of nonlinear problem are obtained in L_p spaces. For linear case the discreteness of spectrum of corresponding parameter dependent differential operator is obtained. The behavior of solution when the parameter approaches zero and its smoothness with respect to the parameter is established. Moreover, we show the estimate for analytic semigroups in terms of interpolation spaces. This fact can be used to obtain maximal regularity properties for abstract boundary value problems.     

Uniqueness of transverse solutions for reaction–diffusion equations with spatially distributed hysteresis

The paper deals with reaction–diffusion equations involving a hysteretic discontinuity in the source term, which is defined at each spatial point. Such problems describe biological processes and chemical reactions in which diffusive and nondiffusive substances interact according to hysteresis law. Under the assumption that the initial data are spatially transverse, we prove a theorem on the uniqueness of solutions. The theorem covers the case of non-Lipschitz hysteresis branches arising in the theory of slow–fast systems.     

The boundary blow-up rate of large solutions

In this paper we ascertain the blow-up rate of the large solutions of a class of sublinear elliptic boundary value problems with a weight function in front of the nonlinearity that vanishes on the boundary of the underlying domain, Ω, at different rates according to the point of the boundary, . All previous results in the literature assumed the decay rate of the underlying weight function to be the same at any point of ∂Ω. This hypothesis substantially simplified the mathematical analysis of the problem, as it allowed constructing global sub and supersolutions in an open neighborhood of ∂Ω. Obtaining general results requires localizing at each particular point of the boundary, making particularly involved the mathematical analysis of the problem.     

Front propagation in infinite cylinders. II. The sharp reaction zone limit

This paper applies the variational approach developed in part I of this work [22] to a singular limit of reaction–diffusion–advection equations which arise in combustion modeling. We first establish existence, uniqueness, monotonicity, asymptotic decay, and the associated free boundary problem for special traveling wave solutions which are minimizers of the considered variational problem in the singular limit. We then show that the speed of the minimizers of the approximating problems converges to the speed of the minimizer of the singular limit. Also, after an appropriate translation the minimizers of the approximating problems converge strongly on compacts to the minimizer of the singular limit. In addition, we obtain matching upper and lower bounds for the speed of the minimizers in the singular limit in terms of a certain area-type functional for small curvatures of the free boundary. The conclusions of the analysis are illustrated by a number of numerical examples.     

Positive solutions of quasilinear parabolic systems with Dirichlet boundary condition

Coupled systems for a class of quasilinear parabolic equations and the corresponding elliptic systems, including systems of parabolic and ordinary differential equations are investigated. The aim of this paper is to show the existence, uniqueness, and asymptotic behavior of time-dependent solutions. Also investigated is the existence of positive maximal and minimal solutions of the corresponding quasilinear elliptic system. The elliptic operators in both systems are allowed to be degenerate in the sense that the density-dependent diffusion coefficients Di(ui) may have the property Di(0)=0 for some or all i=1,…,N, and the boundary condition is ui=0. Using the method of upper and lower solutions, we show that a unique global classical time-dependent solution exists and converges to the maximal solution for one class of initial functions and it converges to the minimal solution for another class of initial functions; and if the maximal and minimal solutions coincide then the steady-state solution is unique and the time-dependent solution converges to the unique solution. Applications of these results are given to three model problems, including a scalar polynomial growth problem, a coupled system of polynomial growth problem, and a two component competition model in ecology.     

On a nonlocal diffusion model with Neumann boundary conditions

We study a nonlocal diffusion model analogous to heat equation with Neumann boundary conditions. We prove the existence and uniqueness of solutions and a comparison principle. Furthermore, we analyze the asymptotic behavior of the solutions as the temporal variable goes to infinity and the boundary datum depends only on a spacial variable.