Continuous rearrangement and symmetry of solutions of elliptic problems

This work presents new results and applications for the continuous Steiner symmetrization. There are proved some functional inequalities, e.g. for Dirichlet-type integrals and convolutions and also continuity properties in Sobolev spacesW ^1,p. Further it is shown that the local minimizers of some variational problems and the nonnegative solutions of some semilinear elliptic problems in symmetric domains satisfy a weak, ‘local’ kind of symmetry.     

NEW PERIODIC SOLUTIONS OF ITO＇S 5th-ORDER mKdV EQUATION AND ITO＇S 7th-ORDER mKdV EQUATION

Based on the modified Jocobi elliptic function expansion method and the modified extended tanh-function method, a new algebraic method is presented to obtain multiple travelling wave solutions for nonlinear wave equations. By using the method ,Ito‘s 5th-order and 7th-order mKdV equations are studied in detail and more new exact Jocobi elliptic function periodic solutions are found. With modulus m→1 or m→0, these solutions degenerate into corresponding solitary wave solutions, shock wave solutions and trigonometric function solutions.     

Convexity of solutions and estimates for fully nonlinear elliptic equations

The starting point of this work is a paper by Alvarez, Lasry and Lions (1997) concerning the convexity and the partial convexity of solutions of fully nonlinear degenerate elliptic equations. We extend their results in two directions. First, we deal with possibly sublinear (but epi-pointed) solutions instead of 1-coercive ones; secondly, the partial convexity of C² solutions is extended to the class of continuous viscosity solutions. A third contribution of this paper concerns C^1,1 estimates for convex viscosity solutions of strictly elliptic nonlinear equations. To finish with, all the tools and techniques introduced here permit us to give a new proof of the Alexandroff estimate obtained by Trudinger (1988) and Caffarelli (1989).     

The Levi Monge-Ampère equation: Smooth regularity of strictly Levi convex solutions

We prove smoothness of strictly Levi convex solutions to the Levi equation in several complex variables. This equation is fully non linear and naturally arises in the study of real hypersurfaces in ℂⁿ⁺¹, for n ≥ 2. For a particular choice of the right-hand side, our equation has the meaning of total Levi curvature of a real hypersurface ℂⁿ⁺¹ and it is the analogous of the equation with prescribed Gauss curvature for the complex structure. However, it is degenerate elliptic also if restricted to strictly Levi convex functions. This basic failure does not allow us to use elliptic techniques such in the classical real and complex Monge-Ampère equations. By taking into account the natural geometry of the problem we prove that first order intrinsic derivatives of strictly Levi convex solutions satisfy a good equation. The smoothness of solutions is then achieved by mean of a bootstrap argument in tangent directions to the hypersurface.     

On the sets of boundedness of solutions for a class of degenerate nonlinear elliptic fourth-order equations with <Emphasis Type="Italic">L</Emphasis><Superscript>1</Superscript>-data

In this article, we deal with a class of degenerate, nonlinear, elliptic fourth-order equations in divergence form with coefficients satisfying a strengthened ellipticity condition and right-hand sides of the class L ¹ depending on the unknown function. We consider the Dirichlet problem for equations of the given class and prove the existence of solutions of this problem bounded on the sets where the behavior of the data of the problem and the weighted functions involved is sufficiently regular. __________ Translated from Fundamentalnaya i Prikladnaya Matematika, Vol. 12, No. 4, pp. 99–112, 2006.     

Probabilistic methods in partial differential equations

Results on the asymptotic behavior of solutions of the Cauchy problem∂u/∂t=Lu ast → ∞ are stated, both for nondegenerate and degenerate elliptic second order operatorL. The Dirichlet problem for degenerateL is also studied. The methods used depend on a detailed study of the behavior of solutions of stochastic differential equations. This work was supported partially by National Science Foundation Grant NSF GP-28484.     

Continuity of Weak Solutions for Quasilinear Parabolic Equations with Strong Degeneracy

The aim of this paper is to study the continuity of weak solutions for quasilinear degenerate parabolic equations of the form U_t-Δφ(u)=O, whereφ■C~1(R~1)is a strictly monotone increasing function.Clearly,the above equation has strong degeneracy,i.e.,the set of zero points ofφ′(·)is permitted to have zero measure. This is an answer to an open problem in[13,p.288].     

Elliptic Equations with Degenerate Coercivity： Gradient Regularity

In this paper, we prove higher integrability results for the gradient of the solutions of some elliptic equations with degenerate coercivity whose prototype is where for example, a(x,u)=(1+|u|)^−θ with θ ∈ (0,1). We study the same problem for minima of functionals closely related to the previous equation.     

W 2,p -a priori estimates for the emergent Poincaré Problem

We derive W ^2,p (Ω)-a priori estimates with arbitrary p ∈(1, ∞), for the solutions of a degenerate oblique derivative problem for linear uniformly elliptic operators with low regular coefficients. The boundary operator is given in terms of directional derivative with respect to a vector field ℓ that is tangent to ∂Ω at the points of a non-empty set ε ⊂ ∂Ω and is of emergent type on ∂Ω.      

Nonlinear Bound States on Weakly Homogeneous Spaces

We prove the existence of ground state solutions for a class of nonlinear elliptic equations, arising in the production of standing wave solutions to an associated family of nonlinear Schrödinger equations. We examine two constrained minimization problems, which give rise to such solutions. One yields what we call F _λ-minimizers, the other energy minimizers. We produce such ground state solutions on a class of Riemannian manifolds called weakly homogeneous spaces, and establish smoothness, positivity, and decay properties. We also identify classes of Riemannian manifolds with no such minimizers, and classes for which essential uniqueness of positive solutions to the associated elliptic PDE fails.     

Asymptotically regular problems I: Higher integrability

We consider weak solutions u of non-linear systems of partial differential equations. Assuming that the system exhibits a certain kind of elliptic behavior near infinity we prove higher integrability results for the gradient Du. In particular, we establish Hölder continuity of u in low dimensions. Moreover, we obtain analogous results for vectorial minimizers of multi-dimensional variational integrals. Finally, we discuss an extension to minimizing sequences and applications to generalized minimizers.     

A sufficient condition for the existence of a “dead zone” for solutions of degenerate semilinear parabolic equations and inequalities

We consider the solutions of degenerate parabolic equations and inequalities of the formLu-u _t = |u| ^q sgnu and sgnu(Lu−u _t )−|u| ^q ≥0, 0<q<1, with the elliptic operatorL in divergent or nondivergent form. We establish a dependence of the maximum modulus of the solution on the domain and on the equation (inequality) such that this dependence guarantees the existence of a “dead zone” of the solution. In this case, the character of degeneracy is unessential. Translated fromMatematicheskie Zametki, Vol. 60, No. 6, pp. 824–831, December, 1996.     

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     

On the theory of the Beltrami equation

We study ring homeomorphisms and, on this basis, obtain a series of theorems on the existence of the so-called ring solutions for degenerate Beltrami equations. A general statement on the existence of solutions for the Beltrami equations that extends earlier results is formulated. In particular, we give new existence criteria for homeomorphic solutions f of the class W _loc ^1,1 with f ⁻¹ ∈ W _loc ^1,2 in terms of tangential dilatations and functions of finite mean oscillation. The ring solutions also satisfy additional capacity inequalities. Published in Ukrains’kyi Matematychnyi Zhurnal, Vol. 58, No. 11, pp. 1571–1583, November, 2006.     

Necessity of a Wiener type condition for boundary regularity of quasiminimizers and nonlinear elliptic equations

We use variational methods to obtain a pointwise estimate near a boundary point for quasisubminimizers of the p-energy integral and other integral functionals in doubling metric measure spaces admitting a p-Poincaré inequality. It implies a Wiener type condition necessary for boundary regularity for p-harmonic functions on metric spaces, as well as for (quasi)minimizers of various integral functionals and solutions of nonlinear elliptic equations on R ⁿ .     

Asymptotic behavior of positive solutions to emden–fowler type equations

We study the asymptotic behavior of positive solutions to nonlinear elliptic equations of Emden–Fowler type with absorption term. For operators with variable coefficients we obtain conditions on coefficients under which the solutions have the same asymptotics as solutions to the model equation Δu = −x| ^p |u| ^σ−1 u. For positive solutions we obtain lower order terms of the asymptotic expansion at infinity. Bibliography: 10 titles.     

Eigenfunctions for singular fully nonlinear equations in unbounded domains

In this paper, we prove the existence of a generalized eigenvalue and a corresponding eigenfunction for fully nonlinear elliptic operators singular or degenerate, homogeneous of degree 1+α, α > −1 in unbounded domains of IR ^N . The main tool will be Harnack’s inequality.     

On viscosity solutions for nontotally parabolic fully nonlinear equations

It is shown how to prove global unique solvability of the first initial-boundary value problem in the class of continuous viscosity solutions for some classes of equations −u_t+F(u_x,u_xx)=g(x, t, u_x), where F(p, A) is elliptic only on some nonlinear subsets of values of the arguments (p, A). For this purpose we use the techniques developed in the theory of viscosity solutions for degenerate elliptic equations. Bibliography: 12 titles. Published inZapiski Nauchnykh Seminarov POMI, Vol. 233, 1996, pp. 112–130.     

Unique continuation for positive solutions of degenerate elliptic equations

We establish the strong unique continuation property for positive weak solutions to degenerate quasilinear elliptic equations. The degeneracy is given by a suitable power of a strong A_∞ weight (© 2010 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Asymptotic behavior of positive solutions of semilinear elliptic equations in ℝ n , II

In this paper, we will analyze further to obtain a finer asymptotic behavior of positive solutions of semilinear elliptic equations in R^n by employing the Li＇s method of energy function.