A New Insight into the Convective Boundary Condition

The steady mixed convection boundary layer flows over a vertical surface adjacent to a Darcy porous medium and subject respectively to (i) a prescribed constant wall temperature, (ii) a prescribed variable heat flux, $q_\mathrm{w} =q_0 x^{-1/2}$ q w = q 0 x ? 1 / 2 , and (iii) a convective boundary condition are compared to each other in this article. It is shown that, in the characteristic plane spanned by the dimensionless flow velocity at the wall ${f}^{\prime }(0)\equiv \lambda $ f ′ ( 0 ) ≡ λ and the dimensionless wall shear stress $f^{\prime \prime }(0)\equiv S$ f ′ ′ ( 0 ) ≡ S , every solution $(\lambda , S)$ ( λ , S ) of one of these three flow problems at the same time is also a solution of the other two ones. There also turns out that with respect to the governing mixed convection and surface heat transfer parameters $\varepsilon $ ε and $\gamma $ γ , every solution $(\lambda , S)$ ( λ , S ) of the flow problem (iii) is infinitely degenerate. Specifically, to the very same flow solution $(\lambda , S)$ ( λ , S ) there corresponds a whole continuous set of values of $\varepsilon $ ε and $\gamma $ γ which satisfy the equation $S=-\gamma (1+\varepsilon -\lambda )$ S = ? γ ( 1 + ε ? λ ) . For the temperature solutions, however, the infinite degeneracy of the velocity solutions becomes lifted. These and further outstanding features of the convective problem (iii) are discussed in the article in some detail.     

Weak Solutions of the Navier–Stokes Equations for Compressible Flows in a Half-Space with No-Slip Boundary Conditions

We consider the Navier–Stokes equations for the motion of compressible, viscous flows in a half-space ${\mathbb{R}^n_+,}$ n =  2,  3, with the no-slip boundary conditions. We prove the existence of a global weak solution when the initial data are close to a static equilibrium. The density of the weak solution is uniformly bounded and does not contain a vacuum, the velocity is Hölder continuous in (x, t) and the material acceleration is weakly differentiable. The weak solutions of this type were introduced by D. Hoff in Arch Ration Mech Anal 114(1):15–46, (1991), Commun Pure and Appl Math 55(11):1365–1407, (2002) for the initial-boundary value problem in ${\Omega = \mathbb{R}^n}$ and for the problem in ${\Omega = \mathbb{R}^n_+}$ with the Navier boundary conditions.     

A fast algorithm to calculate the critical coupling strength for synchronization in a chain of Kuramoto oscillators

Synchronization in a one-dimensional chain of Kuramoto oscillators with periodic boundary conditions is studied. An algorithm to rapidly calculate the critical coupling strength \(K_c\) for complete frequency synchronization is presented according to the mathematical constraint conditions and the periodic boundary conditions. By this new algorithm, we have checked the relation between \(\langle K_c\rangle \) and \(N\) , which is \(\langle K_c\rangle \sim \sqrt{N}\) , not only for small \(N\) , but also for large \(N\) . We also investigate the heavy-tailed distribution of \(K_c\) for random intrinsic frequencies, which is obtained by showing that the synchronization problem is equivalent to a discretization of Brownian motion. This theoretical result was checked by generating a large sample of \(K_c\) for large \(N\) from our algorithm to get the empirical density of \(K_c\) . Finally, we derive the permutation for the maximum coupling strength and its exact expression, which grows linearly with \(N\) and would provide the theoretical support for engineering applications.     

Generalized Resolvent Estimates of the Stokes Equations with First Order Boundary Condition in a General Domain

In this paper, we prove unique existence of solutions to the generalized resolvent problem of the Stokes operator with first order boundary condition in a general domain ${\Omega}$ of the N-dimensional Eulidean space ${\mathbb{R}^N, N \geq 2}$ . This type of problem arises in the mathematical study of the flow of a viscous incompressible one-phase fluid with free surface. Moreover, we prove uniform estimates of solutions with respect to resolvent parameter ${\lambda}$ varying in a sector ${\Sigma_{\sigma, \lambda_0} = \{\lambda \in \mathbb{C} \mid |\arg \lambda| < \pi-\sigma, \enskip |\lambda| \geq \lambda_0\}}$ , where ${0 < \sigma < \pi/2}$ and ${\lambda_0 \geq 1}$ . The essential assumption of this paper is the existence of a unique solution to a suitable weak Dirichlet problem, namely it is assumed the unique existence of solution ${p \in \hat{W}^1_{q, \Gamma}(\Omega)}$ to the variational problem: ${(\nabla p, \nabla \varphi) = (f, \nabla \varphi)}$ for any ${\varphi \in \hat W^1_{q', \Gamma}(\Omega)}$ . Here, ${1 < q < \infty, q' = q/(q-1), \hat W^1_{q, \Gamma}(\Omega)}$ is the closure of ${W^1_{q, \Gamma}(\Omega) = \{ p \in W^1_q(\Omega) \mid p|_\Gamma = 0\}}$ by the semi-norm ${\|\nabla \cdot \|_{L_q(\Omega)}}$ , and ${\Gamma}$ is the boundary of ${\Omega}$ . In fact, we show that the unique solvability of such a Dirichlet problem is necessary for the unique existence of a solution to the resolvent problem with uniform estimate with respect to resolvent parameter varying in ${(\lambda_0, \infty)}$ . Our assumption is satisfied for any ${q \in (1, \infty)}$ by the following domains: whole space, half space, layer, bounded domains, exterior domains, perturbed half space, perturbed layer, but for a general domain, we do not know any result about the unique existence of solutions to the weak Dirichlet problem except for q =  2.     

Hadamard Variational Formula for the Green’s Function of the Boundary Value Problem on the Stokes Equations

For every ${\varepsilon > 0}$ , we consider the Green’s matrix ${G_{\varepsilon}(x, y)}$ of the Stokes equations describing the motion of incompressible fluids in a bounded domain ${\Omega_{\varepsilon} \subset \mathbb{R}^d}$ , which is a family of perturbation of domains from ${\Omega\equiv \Omega_0}$ with the smooth boundary ${\partial\Omega}$ . Assuming the volume preserving property, that is, ${\mbox{vol.}\Omega_{\varepsilon} = \mbox{vol.}\Omega}$ for all ${\varepsilon > 0}$ , we give an explicit representation formula for ${\delta G(x, y) \equiv \lim_{\varepsilon\to +0}\varepsilon^{-1}(G_{\varepsilon}(x, y) - G_0(x, y))}$ in terms of the boundary integral on ${\partial \Omega}$ of ${G_0(x, y)}$ . Our result may be regarded as a classical Hadamard variational formula for the Green’s functions of the elliptic boundary value problems.     

Concerning the Existence of Classical Solutions to the Stokes System. On the Minimal Assumptions Problem

In this notes we consider the stationary Stokes system in a bounded, connected, three-dimensional smooth domain, with homogeneous Dirichlet boundary condition. Proofs also apply to the n-dimensional case, and to other boundary conditions, like Navier-slip ones. We say here that a solution is classical if all derivatives appearing in the equations are continuous up to the boundary. It is well known, for long time, that solutions of the Stokes system are classical if the external forces belong to the H?lder space \({C^{0,\; \lambda}(\bar{\Omega})}\) . It is also well known that, in general, solutions are not classical in the presence of continuous external forces. Hence, a very challenging problem is to find Banach spaces, strictly containing the H?lder spaces \({C^{0,\; \lambda}(\bar{\Omega})}\) such that solutions to the Stokes problem corresponding to forces in the above space are classical. We prove this result for external forces in a suitable functional space, denoted \({{\rm C}_*(\bar{\Omega})}\) , introduced in references Beirão da Veiga (On the solutions in the large of the two-dimensional flow of a non-viscous incompressible fluid, 1982) and Beirão da Veiga (J Differ Equ 54(3):373–389, 1984) in connection with the Euler equations.     

A Fast Algorithm for Invasion Percolation

We present a computationally fast Invasion Percolation (IP) algorithm. IP is a numerical approach for generating realistic fluid distributions for quasi-static (i.e., slow) immiscible fluid invasion in porous media. The algorithm proposed here uses a binary-tree data structure to identify the site (pore) connected to the invasion cluster that is the next to be invaded. Gravity is included. Trapping is not explicitly treated in the numerical examples but can be added, for example, using a Hoshen–Kopelman algorithm. Computation time to percolation for a 3D system having $N$ total sites and $M$ invaded sites at percolation goes as $O(M \log M)$ for the proposed binary-tree algorithm and as $O(M N)$ for a standard implementation of IP that searches through all of the uninvaded sites at each step. The relation between $M$ and $N$ is $M = N^{D/E}$ , where $D$ is the fractal dimension of an infinite cluster and $E$ is Euclidean space dimension. In numerical practice, on finite-sized cubic lattices with invasion structures influenced by the injection boundary and boundary conditions lateral to the flow direction, we observe the scaling $M = N^{0.852}$ in 3D (valid through the second decimal place) instead of $M= N^{0.843}$ based on the infinite cluster fractal dimension $D=2.53$ .     

The Pohozaev Identity for the Fractional Laplacian

In this paper we prove the Pohozaev identity for the semilinear Dirichlet problem \({(-\Delta)^s u =f(u)}\) in \({\Omega, u\equiv0}\) in \({{\mathbb R}^n\backslash\Omega}\) . Here, \({s\in(0,1)}\) , (?Δ) ^s is the fractional Laplacian in \({\mathbb{R}^n}\) , and Ω is a bounded C ^1,1 domain. To establish the identity we use, among other things, that if u is a bounded solution then \({u/\delta^s|_{\Omega}}\) is C ^α up to the boundary ?Ω, where δ(x) = dist(x,?Ω). In the fractional Pohozaev identity, the function \({u/\delta^s|_{\partial\Omega}}\) plays the role that ?u/?ν plays in the classical one. Surprisingly, from a nonlocal problem we obtain an identity with a boundary term (an integral over ?Ω) which is completely local. As an application of our identity, we deduce the nonexistence of nontrivial solutions in star-shaped domains for supercritical nonlinearities.     

Boundary Value Problems of Robin Type for the Brinkman and Darcy–Forchheimer–Brinkman Systems in Lipschitz Domains

The purpose of this paper is to study boundary value problems of Robin type for the Brinkman system and a semilinear elliptic system, called the Darcy–Forchheimer–Brinkman system, on Lipschitz domains in Euclidean setting. In the first part of the paper, we exploit a layer potential analysis and a fixed point theorem to show the existence and uniqueness of the solution to the nonlinear Robin problem for the Darcy–Forchheimer–Brinkman system on a bounded Lipschitz domain in \({\mathbb{R}^n}\) \({(n \in \{2,3\})}\) with small data in L ²-based Sobolev spaces. In the second part, we show an existence result for the mixed Dirichlet–Robin problem for the same semilinear Darcy–Forchheimer-Brinkman system on a bounded creased Lipschitz domain in \({\mathbb{R}^3}\) with small L ²-boundary data. We also study mixed Dirichlet–Robin problems and boundary value problems of mixed Dirichlet–Robin and transmission type for Brinkman systems on bounded creased Lipschitz domains in \({\mathbb{R}^n}\) (n ≥ 3). Finally, we show the well-posedness of the Navier problem for the Brinkman system with boundary data in some L ²-based Sobolev spaces on a bounded Lipschitz domain in \({\mathbb{R}^3}\) .     

Linear Instability of a Horizontal Thermal Boundary Layer Formed by Vertical Throughflow in a Porous Medium: The Effect of Local Thermal Nonequilibrium

In this paper we investigate the onset of convection in a saturated porous medium where uniform suction into a horizontal and uniformly hot bounding surface induces a stationary thermal boundary layer. Particular attention is paid to how the well-known linear stability characteristics of this boundary layer are modified by the presence of local thermal nonequilibrium effects. The basic conduction state is determined and it is found that the boundary layer forms two distinct regions when the porosity is small or when the conductivity of the fluid is small compared with that of the solid. A linearised stability analysis is performed which results in an ordinary differential eigenvalue problem for the critical Darcy–Rayleigh number as a function of the wave number and the two nondimensional parameters, $H$ H and $\gamma $ γ , which are associated with local thermal nonequilibrium. This eigenvalue problem is solved numerically by first approximating the equations by fourth order compact finite differences, and then the critical Rayleigh number is computed iteratively using the inverse power method and minimised over the wavenumber. The variation of the critical Rayleigh number and wavenumber with $H$ H and $\gamma $ γ is presented. One of the unusual effects of local thermal nonequilibrium is that there exists a parameter regime within which the neutral curve is bimodal.     

Regularity and Asymptotic Behavior of Nonlinear Stefan Problems

We study the following nonlinear Stefan problem $$\left\{\begin{aligned}\!\!&u_t\,-\,d\Delta u = g(u) & &\quad{\rm for}\,x\,\in\,\Omega(t), t > 0, \\ & u = 0 \, {\rm and} u_t = \mu|\nabla_{x} u|^{2} &&\quad {\rm for}\,x\,\in\,\Gamma(t), t > 0, \\ &u(0, x) = u_{0}(x) &&\quad {\rm for}\,x\,\in\,\Omega_0,\end{aligned} \right.$$ where ${\Omega(t) \subset \mathbb{R}^{n}}$ ( ${n \geqq 2}$ ) is bounded by the free boundary ${\Gamma(t)}$ , with ${\Omega(0) = \Omega_0}$ , μ and d are given positive constants. The initial function u ₀ is positive in ${\Omega_0}$ and vanishes on ${\partial \Omega_0}$ . The class of nonlinear functions g(u) includes the standard monostable, bistable and combustion type nonlinearities. We show that the free boundary ${\Gamma(t)}$ is smooth outside the closed convex hull of ${\Omega_0}$ , and as ${t \to \infty}$ , either ${\Omega(t)}$ expands to the entire ${\mathbb{R}^n}$ , or it stays bounded. Moreover, in the former case, ${\Gamma(t)}$ converges to the unit sphere when normalized, and in the latter case, ${u \to 0}$ uniformly. When ${g(u) = au - bu^2}$ , we further prove that in the case ${\Omega(t)}$ expands to ${{\mathbb R}^n}$ , ${u \to a/b}$ as ${t \to \infty}$ , and the spreading speed of the free boundary converges to a positive constant; moreover, there exists ${\mu^* \geqq 0}$ such that ${\Omega(t)}$ expands to ${{\mathbb{R}}^n}$ exactly when ${\mu > \mu^*}$ .     

On the Temperature Slip Boundary Condition in a Mixed Convection Boundary-Layer Flow in a Porous Medium

A problem derived previously (Rohni et?al., Transp Porous Media 92:1?C14, 2012) for unsteady mixed convection flow in a porous medium involving a ??temperature slip?? boundary condition and fluid transfer through the boundary is considered. It is shown that the solution to this problem can be directly related to the solution of the corresponding problem for a prescribed surface temperature, involving a mixed convection parameter ??, an unsteadiness parameter A and transpiration parameter s. This latter problem is discussed in detail, particular attention being given to the steady analogue, A?=?0, allowing for fluid transfer through the surface, and to the unsteady problem, A?>?0, for an impermeable surface, s?=?0. Asymptotic results are obtained for large fluid transfer rates, ${s \gg 1}$ and ${s <0 , |s| \gg 1}$ and for large A. Particular attention is given to deriving asymptotic results for the critical points which determine the range of existence of solutions.     

Geometric Approach to Nonvariational Singular Elliptic Equations

In this work we develop a systematic geometric approach to study fully nonlinear elliptic equations with singular absorption terms, as well as their related free boundary problems. The magnitude of the singularity is measured by a negative parameter (γ - 1), for 0 < γ < 1, which reflects on lack of smoothness for an existing solution along the singular interface between its positive and zero phases.We establish existence as well as sharp regularity properties of solutions. We further prove that minimal solutions are non-degenerate and we obtain fine geometric-measure properties of the free boundary ${\mathfrak{F} = \partial{u > 0}}$ . In particular, we show sharp Hausdorff estimates which imply local finiteness of the perimeter of the region {u > 0} and the ${\mathcal{H}^{n-1}}$ almost-everywhere weak differentiability property of ${\mathfrak{F}}$ .     

Inverse Approach in Ordinary Differential Equations: Applications to Lagrangian and Hamiltonian Mechanics

This paper is on the so called inverse problem of ordinary differential equations, i.e. the problem of determining the differential system satisfying a set of given properties. More precisely we characterize under very general assumptions the ordinary differential equations in \(\mathbb {R}^N\) which have a given set of either \(M\) partial integrals, or \(M first integral, or \(M partial and first integrals. Moreover, for such systems we determine the necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of \(N-1\) independent first integrals. We give two relevant applications of the solutions of these inverse problem to constrained Lagrangian and Hamiltonian systems respectively. Additionally we provide the general solution of the inverse problem in dynamics.     

On the Flux Problem in the Theory of Steady Navier–Stokes Equations with Nonhomogeneous Boundary Conditions

We study the nonhomogeneous boundary value problem for Navier–Stokes equations of steady motion of a viscous incompressible fluid in a two-dimensional, bounded, multiply connected domain ${\Omega = \Omega_1 \backslash \overline{\Omega}_2, \overline\Omega_2\subset \Omega_1}$ . We prove that this problem has a solution if the flux ${\mathcal{F}}$ of the boundary value through ?Ω ₂ is nonnegative (inflow condition). The proof of the main result uses the Bernoulli law for a weak solution to the Euler equations and the one-sided maximum principle for the total head pressure corresponding to this solution.     

A Comment on the Flow and Heat Transfer Past a Permeable Stretching/Shrinking Surface in a Porous Medium: Brinkman Model

An analytical solution is presented for the boundary-layer flow and heat transfer over a permeable stretching/shrinking surface embedded in a porous medium using the Brinkman model. The problem is seen to be characterized by the Prandtl number $Pr$ , a mass flux parameter $s$ , with $s>0$ for suction, $s=0$ for an impermeable surface, and $s<0$ for blowing, a viscosity ratio parameter $M$ , the porous medium parameter $\Lambda $ and a wall velocity parameter $\lambda $ . The analytical solution identifies critical values which agree with those previously determined numerically (Bachok et al. Proceedings of the fifth International Conference on Applications of Porous Media, 2013) and shows that these critical values, and the consequent dual solutions, can arise only when there is suction through the wall, $s>0$ .     

On the Stokes and Oseen Problems with Singular Data

We consider the steady Stokes and Oseen problems in bounded and exterior domains of ${\mathbb{R}^n}$ of class C ^k-1,1 (n = 2, 3; k ≥ 2). We prove existence and uniqueness of a very weak solution for boundary data a in ${W^{2-k-1/q,q} (\partial\Omega)}$ . If ${\Omega}$ is of class ${C^\infty}$ , we can assume a to be a distribution on ${\partial\Omega}$ .     

On the flow between two counter-rotating infinite plane disks

This paper studies the boundary-value problem arising from the behaviour of a fluid occupying the region -1≦x≦1 between two rotating disks, rotating about a common axis perpendicular to their planes when the disks are rotating with the same speed Ω₀ but in the opposite sense. The equations which describe the axially symmetric similarity solutions of this problem are $$\varepsilon H^{iv} + HH''' + GG' = 0$$ $$\varepsilon G'' + HG' - H'G = 0$$ with the boundary conditions $$H( \pm 1) = H'( \pm 1) = 0$$ $$G( - 1) = - 1,{\text{ }}G(1) = 1$$ where ?=v/2Ω₀ and v is the kinematic viscosity. The existence of an odd solution is established. This particular solution satisfies many special conditions, for example, G′ (x, ?)>0. Moreover, precise estimates are obtained on the size and behaviour of the solution as ? ↓ 0.     

The Rot-Div System in Exterior Domains

The goal of this paper is to reconsider the classical elliptic system rot v =  f, div v =  g in simply connected domains with bounded connected boundaries (bounded and exterior sets). The main result shows solvability of the problem in the maximal regularity regime in the L _p -framework taking into account the optimal/minimal requirements on the smoothness of the boundary. A generalization for the Besov spaces is studied, too, for \({{\bf f} \in \dot B^s_{p,q}(\Omega)}\) for \({-1+\frac 1p < s < \frac 1p}\) . As a limit case we prove the result for \({{\bf f} \in \dot B^0_{3,1}(\Omega)}\) , provided the boundary is merely in \({B^{2-1/3}_{3,1}}\) . The dimension three is distinguished due to the physical interpretation of the system. In other words we revised and extended the classical results of Friedrichs (Commun Pure Appl Math 8;551–590, 1955) and Solonnikov (Zap Nauch Sem LOMI 21:112–158, 1971).     

On Decay Properties of Solutions to the IVP for the Benjamin–Ono Equation

In this work we investigate unique continuation properties of solutions to the initial value problem associated to the Benjamin–Ono equation in weighted Sobolev spaces $Z_{s,r}=H^s(\mathbb R )\cap L^2(|x|^{2r}dx)$ for $s\in \mathbb R $ , and $s\ge 1$ , $s\ge r$ . More precisely, we prove that the uniqueness property based on a decay requirement at three times can not be lowered to two times even by imposing stronger decay on the initial data.