A linear approximation for the regular reflection of a weak shock at a wedge satisfying sonic condition

The problem of shock reflection by a wedge, which the flow is dominated by the unsteady potential flow equation, is a important problem. In weak regular reflection, the flow behind the reflected shock is immediately supersonic and becomes subsonic further downstream. The reflected shock is transonic. Its position is a free boundary for the unsteady potential equation, which is degenerate at the sonic line in self-similar coordinates. Applying the special partial hodograph transformation used in [Zhouping Xin, Huicheng Yin, Transonic shock in a nozzle I, 2-D case, Comm. Pure Appl. Math. 57 (2004) 1-51; Zhouping Xin, Huicheng Yin, Transonic shock in a nozzle II, 3-D case, IMS, preprint (2003)], we derive a nonlinear degenerate elliptic equation with nonlinear boundary conditions in a piecewise smooth domain. When the angle, which between incident shock and wedge, is small, we can see that weak regular reflection as the disturbance of normal reflection as in [Shuxing Chen, Linear approximation of shock reflection at a wedge with large angle, Comm. Partial Differential Equations 21 (78) (1996) 1103-1118]. By linearizing the resulted nonlinear equation and boundary conditions with above viewpoint, we obtain a linear degenerate elliptic equation with mixed boundary conditions and a linear degenerate elliptic equation with oblique boundary conditions in a curved quadrilateral domain. By means of elliptic regularization techniques, delicate a priori estimate and compact arguments, we show that the solution of linearized problem with oblique boundary conditions is smooth in the interior and Lipschitz continuous up to the degenerate boundary.     

Global supersonic conic shock wave for the steady supersonic flow past a cone: Polytropic gas

In this paper, we establish the global existence and stability of a steady conic shock wave for the symmetrically perturbed supersonic flow past an infinitely long conic body as long as the vertex angle is less than a critical value. The flow is assumed to be polytropic, isentropic and described by a steady potential equation. Based on the delicate asymptotic expansion of the background solution, one can verify that the boundary conditions on the shock and the conic surface satisfy the “dissipative” property. From this property, by use of the reflected characteristics method and the special form of the shock equation, we show that the conic shock attached at the vertex of the cone exists globally in the whole space when the speed of the supersonic coming flow is appropriately large. On the other hand, we remove the smallness restriction on the sharp vertex angle in order to establish the global existence of a shock or a global weak solution, moreover, our proof approach is different from that in [Shuxing Chen, Zhouping Xin, Huicheng Yin, Global shock wave for the supersonic flow past a perturbed cone, Comm. Math. Phys. 228 (2002) 47-84] and [Zhouping Xin, Huicheng Yin, Global multidimensional shock wave for the steady supersonic flow past a three-dimensional curved cone, Anal. Appl. 4 (2) (2006) 101-132].     

Global transonic conic shock wave for the symmetrically perturbed supersonic flow past a cone

In this paper, we are concerned with the global existence and stability of a steady transonic conic shock wave for the symmetrically perturbed supersonic flow past an infinitely long conic body. The flow is assumed to be polytropic, isentropic and described by a steady potential equation. Theoretically, as indicated in [R. Courant, K.O. Friedrichs, Supersonic Flow and Shock Waves, Interscience Publishers, Inc., New York, 1948], it follows from the Rankine-Hugoniot conditions and the entropy condition that there will appear a weak shock or a strong shock attached at the vertex of the sharp cone in terms of the different pressure states at infinity behind the shock surface, which correspond to the supersonic shock and the transonic shock respectively. In the references [Shuxing Chen, Zhouping Xin, Huicheng Yin, Global shock wave for the supersonic flow past a perturbed cone, Comm. Math. Phys. 228 (2002) 47-84; Dacheng Cui, Huicheng Yin, Global conic shock wave for the steady supersonic flow past a cone: Polytropic case, preprint, 2006; Dacheng Cui, Huicheng Yin, Global conic shock wave for the steady supersonic flow past a cone: Isothermal case, Pacific J. Math. 233 (2) (2007) 257-289] and [Zhouping Xin, Huicheng Yin, Global multidimensional shock wave for the steady supersonic flow past a three-dimensional curved cone, Anal. Appl. 4 (2) (2006) 101-132], the authors have established the global existence and stability of a supersonic shock for the perturbed hypersonic incoming flow past a sharp cone when the pressure at infinity is appropriately smaller than that of the incoming flow. At present, for the supersonic symmetric incoming flow, we will study the global transonic shock problem when the pressure at infinity is appropriately large.     

Existence and regularity of the solution of a mixed boundary value problem for the Keldysh equation with a nonlinear absorption term

The Keldysh equation is a more general form of the classic Tricomi equation from fluid dynamics. Its well-posedness and the regularity of its solution are interesting and important. The Keldysh equation is elliptic in y>0 and is degenerate at the line y=0 in R². Adding a special nonlinear absorption term, we study a nonlinear degenerate elliptic equation with mixed boundary conditions in a piecewise smooth domain—similar to the potential fluid shock reflection problem. By means of an elliptic regularization technique, a delicate a priori estimate and compact argument, we show that the solution of a mixed boundary value problem of the Keldysh equation is smooth in the interior and Lipschitz continuous up to the degenerate boundary under some conditions. We believe that this kind of regularity result for the solution will be rather useful.     

The configuration of shock wave reflection for the TSD equation

In this paper, we mainly study the nonlinear wave configuration caused by shock wave reflection for the TSD (Transonic Small Disturbance) equation and specify the existence and nonexistence of various nonlinear wave configurations. We give a condition under which the solution of the RR (Regular reflection) for the TSD equation exists. We also prove that there exists no wave configuration of shock wave reflection for the TSD equation which consists of three or four shock waves. In phase space, we prove that the TSD equation has an IR (Irregular reflection) configuration containing a centered simple wave. Furthermore, we also prove the stability of RR configuration and the wave configuration containing a centered simple wave by solving a free boundary value problem of the TSD equation.     

Existence and regularity of solution of mixed boundary value problem of a Busemann-equation with nonlinear absorb term

The Busemann-equation is a classical equation coming from fluid dynamics. The well-posed problem and regularity of solution of Busemann-equation with nonlinear term are interesting and important. The Busemann-equation is elliptic in y>0 and is degenerate at the line y=0 in R². With a special nonlinear absorb term, we study a nonlinear degenerate elliptic equation with mixed boundary conditions in a piecewise smooth domain. By means of elliptic regularization technique, a delicate prior estimate and compact argument, we show that the solution of mixed boundary value problem of Busemann-equation is smooth in the interior and Lipschitz continuous up to the degenerate boundary on some conditions. The result is better than the result of classical boundary degenerate elliptic equation.     

Global Solutions of Shock Reflection by Wedges for the Nonlinear Wave Equation

When a plane shock hits a wedge head on, it experiences a reflection-diffraction process and then a self-similar reflected shock moves outward as the original shock moves forward in time. In this paper, shock reflection by large-angle wedges for compressible flow modeled by the nonlinear wave equation is studied and a global theory of existence, stability and regularity is established. Moreover, C ^0,1 is the optimal regularity for the solutions across the degenerate sonic boundary.     

A class of quasilinear degenerate elliptic problems

We establish the existence of solutions for a class of quasilinear degenerate elliptic equations. The equations in this class satisfy a structure condition which provides ellipticity in the interior of the domain, and degeneracy only on the boundary. Equations of transonic gas dynamics, for example, satisfy this property in the region of subsonic flow and are degenerate across the sonic surface. We prove that the solution is smooth in the interior of the domain but may exhibit singular behavior at the degenerate boundary. The maximal rate of blow-up at the degenerate boundary is bounded by the “degree of degeneracy” in the principal coefficients of the quasilinear elliptic operator. Our methods and results apply to the problems recently studied by several authors which include the unsteady transonic small disturbance equation, the pressure-gradient equations of the compressible Euler equations, and the singular quasilinear anisotropic elliptic problems, and extend to the class of equations which satisfy the structure condition, such as the shallow water equation, compressible isentropic two-dimensional Euler equations, and general two-dimensional nonlinear wave equations. Our study provides a general framework to analyze degenerate elliptic problems arising in the self-similar reduction of a broad class of two-dimensional Cauchy problems.     

A mixed boundary value problem for Chaplygin's hodograph equation

In this paper we will prove existence, uniqueness and regularity of a classical solution to a mixed boundary value problem for Chaplygin's hodograph equation, which is degenerate elliptic on a part of the boundary. This problem is derived from the study of detached bow shock ahead of a straight ramp in uniform supersonic flows in the hodograph plane. The proof depends on Perron's method and some techniques from linear elliptic equations.     

The mixed problem for a nonlinear degenerate elliptic equation of second order

The present paper deals with the mixed boundary value problem for a nonlinear elliptic equation with degenerate rank 0. We first give the formulation of the problem and estimates of solutions of the problem, and then prove the uniqueness and existence of solutions of the above problem for the nonlinear elliptic equation by the extremum principle and the method of parameter extension. The complex method is used to discuss the corresponding problem for degenerate elliptic complex equation of first order and then that of second order.     

Degenerate Nonlinear Boundary Value Problems for Fully Nonlinear Elliptic Equations of Second Order

In this paper, we will consider the degenerate nonlinear boundary value problems for nonlinear elliptic equations. We extend Lieberman & Trudinger's results from nondegenerate oblique derivative boundary values to degenerate boundary values.     

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.     

A free boundary problem of elliptic equation arising in supersonic flow past a conical body

We study free boundary value problems of elliptic equation caused by a supersonic flow past a non-symmetric conical body. The flow is described by the potential flow equation. In the self-similar coordinate system the problem can be reduced to a boundary value problem of second order nonlinear elliptic equation with a free boundary. Applying the partial hodograph transformation and the method of nonlinear alternative iteration we proved the existence of solution to this boundary value problem. Consequently, we also proved the conclusion that for the problem of supersonic flow past a conical body, if the conical body is slightly different from a circular cone with its vertex angle less than a given value determined by the parameters of the coming flow, then there exists a weak entropy solution with an attached conical shock.     

Subsonic solutions for compressible transonic potential flows

We establish an existence theorem for transonic isentropic potential flows where the subsonic region is bounded by the sonic line and thus the governing equation may become degenerate on the boundary partly or entirely. It has been conjectured by experiments and numerical studies that the self-similar multidimensional flow changes its type, namely, hyperbolic far from the origin (supersonic region) and elliptic near the origin (subsonic region). Furthermore, the potential equation has a different nonlinearity compared to other transonic problems such as the unsteady transonic small disturbance equation, the nonlinear wave equation, and the pressure gradient equation. Namely, the coefficients of the potential equation depend on the gradients while others are independent of the gradients. We provide techniques to handle the gradients, establish interior and boundary gradient estimates for the potential flow in a convex region, and answer the conjecture, that is, the flow is strictly elliptic and the region is subsonic.     

Higher regularity for free boundary and tangential derivative problems and global solutions to regular reflections for the unsteady transonic small disturbance (UTSD) equations

We establish C^2,α$C^{2,\alpha }$-estimates for solutions of a class of quasilinear elliptic equations with free boundary and tangential derivative boundary problems. Using this regularity result we show the existence of global solutions to regular shock reflections for the unsteady transonic small disturbance (UTSD) equation. We also present Lipschitz estimates near the degenerate Dirichlet boundary (the sonic boundary) for the UTSD equation.     

准一维单原子晶格非线性振动方程的双周期解

利用行波变量代换和辅助椭圆方程法,求解了准一维单原子非线性晶格振动方程,得到了新的双周期波形式的椭圆函数解.在极限情形下,不仅可以还原为前人给出的扭结孤子解,同时还给出了一类新的类孤子解.     

Diffusion versus absorption in semilinear elliptic equations

We study the limit behaviour of a sequence of singular solutions of a nonlinear elliptic equation with a strongly degenerate absorption term at the boundary of the domain. We give sharp conditions on the rate of degeneracy in terms of the distance to the boundary in order the pointwise singularity not to propagate along the boundary.     

Long-time behavior for a nonlinear fourth-order parabolic equation

We study the asymptotic behavior of solutions of the initial- boundary value problem, with periodic boundary conditions, for a fourth-order nonlinear degenerate diffusion equation with a logarithmic nonlinearity. For strictly positive and suitably small initial data we show that a positive solution exponentially approaches its mean as time tends to infinity. These results are derived by analyzing the equation verified by the logarithm of the solution.

     

Reflected brownian motion in a wedge: Semimartingale property

In this paper, the object of study is reflected Brownian motion in a two-dimensional wedge with constant direction of reflection on each side of the wedge. The basic question considered here is “When is this process a semimartingale?”. It is first shown that a related process, defined by specifying the corner of the wedge to be an absorbing state, rather than an instantaneous one, is a semimartingale. Conditions for the existence and uniqueness of the process for which the corner is an instantaneous state were given by Vardhan and Williams (“Brownian motion in a wedge with oblique reflection”, Comm. Pure Appl. Math., to appear). Under these conditions, it is shown that starting away from the corner, the process is a semimartingale if and only if there is a convex combination of the directions of reflection that points into the wedge. This equivalence is also shown to hold starting from the corner, except in one unresolved case for which the wedge angle exceeds π and the directions of reflection are exactly opposed.     

Transonic nozzle flows and free boundary problems for the full Euler equations

We establish the existence and uniqueness of transonic flows with a transonic shock through a two-dimensional nozzle of slowly varying cross-sections. The transonic flow is governed by the steady, full Euler equations. Given an incoming smooth flow that is close to a constant supersonic state (i.e., smooth Cauchy data) at the entrance and the subsonic condition with nearly horizontal velocity at the exit of the nozzle, we prove that there exists a transonic flow whose downstream smooth subsonic region is separated by a smooth transonic shock from the upstream supersonic flow. This problem is approached by a one-phase free boundary problem in which the transonic shock is formulated as a free boundary. The full Euler equations are decomposed into an elliptic equation and a system of transport equations for the free boundary problem. An iteration scheme is developed and its fixed point is shown to exist, which is a solution of the free boundary problem, by combining some delicate estimates for the elliptic equation and the system of transport equations with the Schauder fixed point argument. The uniqueness of transonic nozzle flows is also established by employing the coordinate transformation of Euler-Lagrange type and detailed estimates of the solutions.