On the strong maximum principle for degenerate parabolic equations

Variants of the strong maximum principle are established for subsolutions to degenerate parabolic equations for which the standard version of the strong maximum principle does not hold. The results are formulated for viscosity solutions.     

The strong maximum principle revisited

In this paper we first present the classical maximum principle due to E. Hopf, together with an extended commentary and discussion of Hopf's paper. We emphasize the comparison technique invented by Hopf to prove this principle, which has since become a main mathematical tool for the study of second order elliptic partial differential equations and has generated an enormous number of important applications. While Hopf's principle is generally understood to apply to linear equations, it is in fact also crucial in nonlinear theories, such as those under consideration here.In particular, we shall treat and discuss recent generalizations of the strong maximum principle, and also the compact support principle, for the case of singular quasilinear elliptic differential inequalities, under generally weak assumptions on the quasilinear operators and the nonlinearities involved. Our principal interest is in necessary and sufficient conditions for the validity of both principles; in exposing and simplifying earlier proofs of corresponding results; and in extending the conclusions to wider classes of singular operators than previously considered.The results have unexpected ramifications for other problems, as will develop from the exposition, e.g.

(i)

two point boundary value problems for singular quasilinear ordinary differential equations (Sections 3 and 4);

(ii)

the exterior Dirichlet boundary value problem (Section 5);

(iii)

the existence of dead cores and compact support solutions, i.e. dead cores at infinity (Section 7);

(iv)

Euler-Lagrange inequalities on a Riemannian manifold (Section 9);

(v)

comparison and uniqueness theorems for solutions of singular quasilinear differential inequalities (Section 10).

The case of p-regular elliptic inequalities is briefly considered in Section 11.     

A note on the strong maximum principle and the compact support principle

In this note we are concerned with the strong maximum principle (SMP) and the compact support principle (CSP) for non-negative solutions to quasilinear elliptic inequalities of the form

     

Set separation, approximating multicones, and the Lipschitz maximum principle

We present a general necessary condition for separation of the reachable set of a Lipschitz control system from another given set of states, expressed in terms of an “approximating multicone” to the set in a sense that contains as special cases the Clarke and Mordukhovich cones. We then show how this separation result implies a strengthened form of the usual sufficient condition for local controllability along the reference curve and the necessary condition for optimality.     

On the maximum principle for linear parabolic equations

We prove extensions of our previous estimates for linear elliptic equations with inhomogeneous terms in L ^p spaces, p ≤ n to linear parabolic equations with inhomogeneous terms in L ^p , p ≤ n + 1. As with the elliptic case, our results depend on restrictions on parabolicity determined by certain subcones of the positive cone . They also extend the maximum principle of Krylov for the case p = n + 1, corresponding to the usual parabolicity.     

On the maximum principle for deterministic impulse control problems

This paper is devoted to a simple and direct proof of a version of the Blaquiere's maximum principle for deterministic impulse control problems.     

On the maximum principle for complete second-order elliptic operators in general domains

This paper is concerned with the maximum principle for second-order linear elliptic equations in a wide generality. By means of a geometric condition previously stressed by Berestycki-Nirenberg-Varadhan, Cabré was very able to improve the classical ABP estimate obtaining the maximum principle also in unbounded domains, such as infinite strips and open connected cones with closure different from the whole space. Now we introduce a new geometric condition that extends the result to a more general class of domains including the complements of hypersurfaces, as for instance the cut plane. The methods developed here allow us to deal with complete second-order equations, where the admissible first-order term, forced to be zero in a preceding result with Cafagna, depends on the geometry of the domain.     

A topological reflection principle equivalent to Shelah's strong hypothesis

We notice that Shelah's Strong Hypothesis is equivalent to the following reflection principle:

Suppose is a first-countable space whose density is a regular cardinal, . If every separable subspace of is of cardinality at most , then the cardinality of is .

     

A remark on the maximum principle and stochastic completeness

We prove that the stochastic completeness of a Riemannian manifold is equivalent to the validity of a weak form of the Omori-Yau maximum principle. Some geometric applications of this result are also presented.

     

A new maximum principle of elliptic differential equations in divergence form

In this paper will be presented a new maximum principle of elliptic differential equations in divergence form which can be regarded as the counterpart of the Alexandroff-Bakelman-Pucci maximum principle of elliptic differential equations in nondivergence form.

     

On the maximum principle for time-optimal controls for a class of distributed-boundary control problems

In this note, we present the necessary conditions of optimality for time-optimal controls for a class of distributed-boundary control problems in general Banach spaces using the semigroup theory. Theorem 3.1 is based on a recent general maximum principle due to Barbu (Ref. 1), which was proved for strictly convex reflexive Banach spaces. Theorem 3.2 generalizes this result (for time-optimal control problems) by lifting the assumption.This work was supported by the National Science and Engineering Council of Canada under Grant No. 7109.     

On Korenblum's maximum principle

Let be the Bergman space over the open unit disk in the complex plane. Korenblum's maximum principle states that there is an absolute constant , such that whenever ( ) in the annulus , then . In this paper we prove that Korenblum's maximum principle holds with .

     

Extremal functions for the Caffarelli-Kohn-Nirenberg inequalities: A simple proof of the symmetry

In this article, we give a simple proof of the result due to Lin and Wang ensuring the foliated Schwarz symmetry of the extremal functions for the Caffarelli-Kohn-Nirenberg inequalities. This new proof uses a direct and powerful method due to Bartsch, Weth and Willem using polarizations.