Boundary value problems for the Fitzhugh-Nagumo equations

This paper is concerned with the study of the FitzHugh-Nagumo equations. These equations arise in mathematical biology as a model of the transmission of electrical impulses through a nerve axon; they are a simplified version of the Hodgkin-Huxley equations. The FitzHugh-Nagumo equations consist of a non-linear diffusion equation coupled to an ordinary differential equation. v_t = v_xx + f(v) ? u, u_t = σv ? γu. We study these equations with either Dirichlet or Neumann boundary conditions, proving local and global existence, and uniqueness of the solutions. Furthermore, we obtain L_∞ estimates for the solutions in terms of the L₁ norm of the boundary data, when the boundary data vanish after a finite time and the initial data are zero. These estimates allow us to prove exponential decay of the solutions.     

Upper and lower bounds for solutions of generalized two-point boundary value problems

This paper is concerned with two-point boundary value problems for systems of differential equations and integro-differential equations. If ?, ψ and Φ, Ψ are functions which satisfy certain differential (integro-differential) inequalities, then the given problem has a solutionu ^* such that ?≦u ^*≦ψ and Φ≦u ^*′≦Ψ.     

Boundedness of solutions of difference equations and application to numerical solution of Volterra integral equations of the second kind

We study the difference equations obtained when some numerical methods for Volterra integral equations of the second kind are applied to the linear test problem y(t) = 1 + ∝₀^t (λ + μt + vs) y(s) ds, t ⩾ 0, with fixed stepsize h. The resulting difference equations are of Poincaré type and we formulate a criterion for boundedness of solutions of these equations if the associated characteristic polynomial is a simple von Neumann polynomial. This result is then used in stability analysis of reducible quadrature methods for Volterra integral equations.     

The slow wave solution to the FitzHugh-Nagumo equations

This paper gives a new existence proof for a travelling wave solution to the FitzHugh-Nagumo equations, u_t = u_xx +f(u)?w, w _t = ? (u?γw). The proof uses a contraction mapping argument, and also shows that the solution (u, c, w) to the travelling wave equations, where c is the wave speed, converges as ? → 0⁺ to the solution to the equations having ?=0, c=0, and w=0.     

An initial-boundary value problem for the Maxwell equations

In this paper, by using methods from complex analysis and quaternionic analysis, we investigate an initial-boundary value problem for the Maxwell equations and obtain the general solutions and solvable conditions of the problem respectively in different cases. In addition, by using a similar method, we also discuss an initial-boundary value problem for a hyperbolic complex system of first order equations in R³.     

Smooth solutions to a class of mixed type Monge–Ampère equations

We prove the existence of C ^∞ local solutions to a class of mixed type Monge–Ampère equations in the plane. More precisely, the equation changes type to finite order across two smooth curves intersecting transversely at a point. Existence of C ^∞ global solutions to a corresponding class of linear mixed type equations is also established. These results are motivated by and may be applied to the problem of prescribed Gaussian curvature for graphs, the isometric embedding problem for 2-dimensional Riemannian manifolds into Euclidean 3-space, and also transonic fluid flow.     

Some remarks on planar Boussinesq equations

The main purpose of this paper is to prove the well-posedness of the two-dimensional Boussinesq equations when the initial vorticity ω 0 ∈L1 (R 2 ) (or the finite Radon measure space). Using the stream function form of the equations and the Schauder fixed-point theorem to get the new proof of these results, we get that when the initial vorticity is smooth, there exists a unique classical solutions for the Cauchy problem of the two dimensional Boussinesq equations.     

A note on the regularity criteria for the Navier-Stokes equations

We consider the regularity problem for 3D Navier-Stokes equations in a bounded domain with smooth boundary. A new sufficient condition which guarantees the regularity of weak solutions on the quotient ∇p/(1+|u|^δ₁+|∇u|^δ₂) for the Navier-Stokes equations is established.     

Construction of continuous solutions and stability for the polynomial-like iterative equation

Most of known results such as existence, uniqueness and stability for polynomial-like iterative equations were given under the assumption that the coefficient of the first order iteration term does not vanish. The existence with a non-zero leading coefficient was therefore raised as an open problem. It was positively answered for local C¹ solutions later. In this paper this problem is answered further by constructing C⁰ solutions. Moreover, we discuss the stability of those C⁰ solutions, which consequently implies a result of the stability for iterative roots.     

Regularization for a class of ill-posed evolution problems in Banach space

We study evolution equations in Banach space, and provide a general framework for regularizing a wide class of ill-posed Cauchy problems by proving continuous dependence on modeling for nonautonomous equations. We approximate the ill-posed problem by a well-posed one, and obtain H?lder-continuous dependence results that provide estimates of the error for a class of solutions under certain stabilizing conditions. For examples that include the linearized Korteweg-de Vries equation and the Schr?dinger equation in L ^p ,p??2, we obtain a family of regularizing operators for the ill-posed problem. This work extends to the nonautonomous case several recent results for ill-posed problems with constant coefficients.     

Global solvability for the Kirchhoff equations in exterior domains of dimension three

We consider the initial (boundary) value problem for the Kirchhoff equations in exterior domains or in the whole space of dimension three, and show that these problems admit time-global solutions, provided the norms of the initial data in the usual Sobolev spaces of appropriate order are sufficiently small. We obtain uniform estimates of the L¹(R) norms with respect to time variable at each point in the domain, of solutions of initial (boundary) value problem for the linear wave equations. We then show that the estimates above yield the unique global solvability for the Kirchhoff equations.     

Boundary value problems for two types of degenerate elliptic systems in <Emphasis Type="Italic">R</Emphasis><Superscript>4</Superscript>

Firstly, the Riemann boundary value problem for a kind of degenerate elliptic system of the first order equations in R ⁴ is proposed. Then, with the help of the one-to-one correspondence between the theory of Clifford valued generalized regular functions and that of the degenerate elliptic system’s solution, the boundary value problem as stated above is transformed into a boundary value problem related to the generalized regular functions in Clifford analysis. Moreover, the solution of the Riemann boundary value problem for the degenerate elliptic system is explicitly described by using a kind of singular integral operator. Finally, the conditions for the existence of solutions of the oblique derivative problem for another kind of degenerate elliptic system of the first order equations in R ⁴ are derived.     

Approximation of a system of singularly perturbed reaction-diffusion parabolic equations in a rectangle

The Dirichlet problem for a system of singularly perturbed reaction-diffusion parabolic equations in a rectangle is considered. The higher order derivatives of the equations are multiplied by a perturbation parameter ?², where ? takes arbitrary values in the interval (0, 1]. When ? vanishes, the system of parabolic equations degenerates into a system of ordinary differential equations with respect to t. When ? tends to zero, a parabolic boundary layer with a characteristic width ? appears in a neighborhood of the boundary. Using the condensing grid technique and the classical finite difference approximations of the boundary value problem, a special difference scheme is constructed that converges ?-uniformly at a rate of O(N ^?2ln² N + N ₀ ^?1 , where \(N = \mathop {\min }\limits_s N_s \), N ^s + 1 and N ₀ + 1 are the numbers of mesh points on the axes x _s and t, respectively.     

Quantum three-body problems

A scheme for dealing with the quantum three-body problem is presented to separate the rotational degrees of freedom completely from the internal ones. In this method, the three-body Schrodinger equation is reduced to a system of coupled partial differential equations, depending only upon three internal variables. For arbitrary total orbital angular momentum / and the parity (? 1) ^l+λ (λ = 0 or 1), the number of the equations in this system isl = 1 ?λ. By expanding the wavefunction with respect to a complete set of orthonormal basis functions, the system of equations is further reduced to a system of linear algebraic equations.     

A second-order Cauchy problem in a scale of Banach spaces and application to Kirchhoff equations

In a scale of Banach spaces we study the Cauchy problem for the equation u^′′=A(Bu(t),u), where A is a bilinear operator and B is a completely continuous operator. Obtained results are applied to prove existence of solutions in the Gevrey class for Kirchhoff equations.     

Number-theoretic degeneracy of the energy levels of a perturbed N-dimensional isotropic harmonic oscillator

The problem of constructing all integer solutions n₁ ≥ n₂ ≥ … ≥ n_N to the pair of Diophantine equations n = n₁ + … + n_N, m = n₁² + … + n_N² arises in the determination of the degeneracy of a given energy level of an N-dimensional isotropic quantum oscillator that is perturbed by an isotropic quartic potential energy term. This problem is solved recursively (in N) using the concept of a multiplet, which is a finite set of points in a lattice space L^N whose points are N-tuples of integers that sum to zero. The basic definition and properties of multiplets are given and then used to obtain the solutions to the Diophantine equations described above. The classification of multiplets into two types, fundamental and nonfundamental, is shown to have an important role in elucidating the structure of multiplets. The concept of a fundamental multiplet is demonstrated to be an important characterization of the solutions to a pair of Diophantine equations that are closely related to those of the original problem.     

Numerical modelling of aeroelastic behaviour of an airfoil in viscous incompressible flow

In this paper, the problem of the numerical approximation of a two-dimensional incompressible viscous fluid flow interacting with a flexible structure is considered. Due to high Reynolds numbers in the range 10⁴ − 10⁶ the turbulent character of the flow is considered and modelled with the aid of Reynolds equations coupled with the k − ω turbulence model. The structure motion is described by a system of ordinary differential equations for three degrees of freedom: vertical displacement, rotation and rotation of the aileron. The problem is discretized in space by the Galerkin Least-Squares stabilized finite element method and the computational domain is treated with the aid of Arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian method.     

Inversion of Toeplitz operators,Levinson equations,and Gohberg-Krein factorization—A simple and unified approach for the rational case

The problem of the inversion of the Toeplitz operator T_Φ, associated with the operator-valued function Φ defined on the unit circle, is known to involve the associated Levinson system of equations and the Gohberg-Krein factorization of Φ. A simplified and self-contained approach, making clear the connections between these three problems, is presented in the case where Φ is matrix-valued and rational. The key idea consists in looking at the Levinson system of equations associated with Φ^?1(z^?1), rather than that associated with Φ(z). As a consequence, a new invertibility criterion for Toeplitz operators with rational matrix-valued symbols is derived.     

A regularization for discontinuous differential equations with application to state-dependent delay differential equations of neutral type

We consider a regularization for a class of discontinuous differential equations arising in the study of neutral delay differential equations with state dependent delays. For such equations the possible discontinuity in the derivative of the solution at the initial point may propagate along the integration interval giving rise to so-called “breaking points”, where the solution derivative is again discontinuous. Consequently, the problem of continuing the solution in a right neighborhood of a breaking point is equivalent to a Cauchy problem for an ode with a discontinuous right-hand side (see e.g. Bellen et al., 2009 [4]). Therefore a classical solution may cease to exist.The regularization is based on the replacement of the vector-field with its time average over an interval of length ε>0. The regularized solution converges as ε→⁰⁺ to the classical Filippov solution (Filippov, 1964, 1988 [13] and [14]). Several properties of the solutions corresponding to small ε>0 are presented.     

Solvability of Newton equations in smoothing-type algorithms for the SOCCP

In this paper, we first investigate the invertibility of a class of matrices. Based on the obtained results, we then discuss the solvability of Newton equations appearing in the smoothing-type algorithm for solving the second-order cone complementarity problem (SOCCP). A condition ensuring the solvability of such a system of Newton equations is given. In addition, our results also show that the assumption that the Jacobian matrix of the function involved in the SOCCP is a P₀-matrix is not enough for ensuring the solvability of such a system of Newton equations, which is different from the one of smoothing-type algorithms for solving many traditional optimization problems in ℜⁿ.