A Note on the Convergence of Singularly Perturbed Second Order Potential-Type Equations

In this paper we study the limit as \(\varepsilon \rightarrow 0\) of the singularly perturbed second order equation \(\varepsilon ^2 \ddot{u}_\varepsilon + \nabla _{\!x} V(t,u_\varepsilon (t))=0\), where V(t, x) is a potential. We assume that \(u_0(t)\) is one of its equilibrium points such that \(\nabla _{\!x}V(t,u_0(t))=0\) and \(\nabla _{\!x}^2V(t,u_0(t))>0\). We find that, under suitable initial data, the solutions \(u_\varepsilon \) converge uniformly to \(u_0\), by imposing mild hypotheses on V. A counterexample shows that they cannot be weakened.     

Convergence of Radially Symmetric Solutions for (<Emphasis Type="Italic">p</Emphasis>, <Emphasis Type="Italic">q</Emphasis>)-Laplacian Elliptic Equations with a Damping Term

This study considers the quasilinear elliptic equation with a damping term,

$$\begin{aligned} \text {div}(D(u)\nabla u) + \frac{k(|{\mathbf {x}}|)}{|{\mathbf {x}}|}\,{\mathbf {x}}\cdot (D(u)\nabla u) + \omega ^2\big (|u|^{p-2}u + |u|^{q-2}u\big ) = 0, \end{aligned}$$

where \({\mathbf {x}}\) is an N-dimensional vector in \(\big \{{\mathbf {x}} \in \mathbb {R}^N: |{\mathbf {x}}| \ge \alpha \big \}\) for some \(\alpha > 0\) and \(N \in {\mathbb {N}}\setminus \{1\}\); \(D(u) = |\nabla u|^{p-2} + |\nabla u|^{q-2}\) with \(1 < q \le p\); k is a nonnegative and locally integrable function on \([\alpha ,\infty )\); and \(\omega \) is a positive constant. A necessary and sufficient condition is given for all radially symmetric solutions to converge to zero as \(|{\mathbf {x}}|\rightarrow \infty \). Our necessary and sufficient condition is expressed by an improper integral related to the damping coefficient k. The case that k is a power function is explained in detail.

     

Approximation of Flat <Emphasis Type="Italic">W</Emphasis><Superscript>2,2</Superscript> Isometric Immersions by Smooth Ones

Let \({S\subset\mathbb{R}^2}\) be a bounded Lipschitz domain and denote by \({W^{2,2}_{\text{iso}}(S; \mathbb{R}^3)}\) the set of mappings \({u\in W^{2,2}(S;\mathbb{R}^3)}\) which satisfy \({(\nabla u)^T(\nabla u) = Id}\) almost everywhere. Under an additional regularity condition on the boundary \({\partial S}\) (which is satisfied if \({\partial S}\) is piecewise continuously differentiable), we prove that the strong W ^2,2 closure of \({W^{2,2}_{\text{iso}}(S; \mathbb{R}^3)\cap C^{\infty}(\overline{S};\mathbb{R}^3)}\) agrees with \({W^{2,2}_{\text{iso}}(S; \mathbb{R}^3)}\).     

Global Attractors of Sixth Order PDEs Describing the Faceting of Growing Surfaces

A spatially two-dimensional sixth order PDE describing the evolution of a growing crystalline surface h(x, y, t) that undergoes faceting is considered with periodic boundary conditions, as well as its reduced one-dimensional version. These equations are expressed in terms of the slopes \(u_1=h_{x}\) and \(u_2=h_y\) to establish the existence of global, connected attractors for both equations. Since unique solutions are guaranteed for initial conditions in \(\dot{H}^2_{per}\), we consider the solution operator \(S(t): \dot{H}^2_{per} \rightarrow \dot{H}^2_{per}\), to gain our results. We prove the necessary continuity, dissipation and compactness properties.     

Gradient Bounds for Elliptic Problems Singular at the Boundary

Let Ω be a bounded smooth domain in \({{R}^N, N \geqq 2}\), and let us denote by d(x) the distance function d(x, ?Ω). We study a class of singular Hamilton–Jacobi equations, arising from stochastic control problems, whose simplest model is

$ - \alpha \Delta u+ u + \frac{\nabla u \cdot B (x)}{d (x)}+ c(x) |\nabla u|^2=f (x) \quad {\rm in}\,\Omega, $

where f belongs to \({W^{1,\infty}_{\rm loc} (\Omega)}\) and is (possibly) singular at \({\partial \Omega, c\in W^{1,\infty} (\Omega)}\) (with no sign condition) and the field \({B\in W^{1,\infty} (\Omega)^N}\) has an outward direction and satisfies \({B\cdot \nu\geqq \alpha}\) at ?Ω (ν is the outward normal). Despite the singularity in the equation, we prove gradient bounds up to the boundary and the existence of a (globally) Lipschitz solution. We show that in some cases this is the unique bounded solution. We also discuss the stability of such estimates with respect to α, as α vanishes, obtaining Lipschitz solutions for first order problems with similar features. The main tool is a refined weighted version of the classical Bernstein method to get gradient bounds; the key role is played here by the orthogonal transport component of the Hamiltonian.

     

Infinitely Many Stability Switches in a Problem with Sublinear Oscillatory Boundary Conditions

We consider the elliptic equation \(-\Delta u +u =0\) with nonlinear boundary condition \(\frac{\partial u}{\partial n}= \lambda u + g(\lambda ,x,u), \) where \(\frac{g(\lambda ,x,s)}{s} \rightarrow 0, \hbox { as }|s|\rightarrow \infty \) and g is oscillatory. We provide sufficient conditions on g for the existence of unbounded sequences of stable solutions, unstable solutions, and turning points, even in the absence of resonant solutions.     

Synchronization transitions induced by partial time delay in a excitatory–inhibitory coupled neuronal network

Information transmission delays are an inherent factor of neuronal systems as a consequence of the finite propagation speeds and time lapses occurring by both dendritic and synaptic processes. In real neuronal systems, some delay between two neurons is too small and can be ignored, which results in partial time delay. In this paper, we focus on investigating influences of partial time delay on synchronization transitions in a excitatory–inhibitory (E–I) coupled neuronal networks. Here, we suppose time delay between two neurons equals to \(\tau \) with probability \(p_{\mathrm{delay}}\) and investigate effect of partial time delay on synchronization transitions of the neuronal networks by controlling \(\tau \) and \(p_{\mathrm{delay}}\) under three cases. In these three cases, excitatory synapses are always considered to delayed with probability \(p_{\mathrm{delay}}\), while inhibitory synapses are considered to be without delays (case I), delayed with probability \(p_{\mathrm{delay}}\) (case II), and always delayed (case III), respectively. It is revealed that, in the first two cases, partial time delay has little influences on synchronization of the neuronal network for small \(p_{\mathrm{delay}}\), while it could induce synchronization transitions at \(\tau \) around integer multiples of the period of individual neuron T when \(p_{\mathrm{delay}}\) is large enough, while in the case III, partial time delay could induce synchronization transitions at \(\tau \) being around odd integer multiples of T / 2 for small \(p_{\mathrm{delay}}\) and at \(\tau \) being around integer multiples of T for large \(p_{\mathrm{delay}}\). Most interesting observation is that partial time delay could induce frequent synchronization transitions at \(\tau \) being around integer multiples of T / 2 for intermediate \(p_{\mathrm{delay}}\). Moreover, effect of rewiring probability on synchronization transitions induced by partial time delay has been discussed. It is found that synchronization transitions induced by partial time delay are robust to rewiring probability for large \(p_{\mathrm{delay}}\) under the three cases.     

Delta Shock Waves in the Shallow Water System

We consider a Riemann problem for the shallow water system \(u_{t} +\big (v+\textstyle \frac{1}{2}u^{2}\big )_{x}=0\), \(v_{t}+\big (u+uv\big )_{x}=0\) and evaluate all singular solutions of the form \(u(x,t)=l(t)+b(t)H\big (x-\gamma (t)\big )+a(t)\delta \big (x-\gamma (t)\big )\), \(v(x,t)=k(t)+c(t)H\big (x-\gamma (t)\big )\), where \(l,b,a,k,c,\gamma :\mathbb {R}\rightarrow \mathbb {R}\) are \(C^{1}\)-functions of time t, H is the Heaviside function, and \(\delta \) stands for the Dirac measure with support at the origin. A product of distributions, not constructed by approximation processes, is used to define a solution concept, that is a consistent extension of the classical solution concept. Results showing the advantage of this framework are briefly presented in the introduction.     

Complex Dynamics in a ODE Model Related to Phase Transition

Motivated by some recent studies on the Allen–Cahn phase transition model with a periodic nonautonomous term, we prove the existence of complex dynamics for the second order equation

$$\begin{aligned} -\ddot{x} + \left( 1 + \varepsilon ^{-1} A(t)\right) G'(x) = 0, \end{aligned}$$

where A(t) is a nonnegative T-periodic function and \(\varepsilon > 0\) is sufficiently small. More precisely, we find a full symbolic dynamics made by solutions which oscillate between any two different strict local minima \(x_0\) and \(x_1\) of G(x). Such solutions stay close to \(x_0\) or \(x_1\) in some fixed intervals, according to any prescribed coin tossing sequence. For convenience in the exposition we consider (without loss of generality) the case \(x_0 =0\) and \(x_1 = 1\).

     

On the Damped Harmonic Oscillator with Time Dependent Damping Coefficient

Conditions guaranteeing asymptotic stability for the differential equation

$$\begin{aligned} x''+h(t)x'+\omega ^2x=0 \qquad (x\in \mathbb {R}) \end{aligned}$$

are studied, where the damping coefficient \(h:[0,\infty )\rightarrow [0,\infty )\) is a locally integrable function, and the frequency \(\omega >0\) is constant. Our conditions need neither the requirement \(h(t)\le \overline{h}<\infty \) (\(t\in [0,\infty )\); \(\overline{h}\) is constant) (“small damping”), nor \(0< \underline{h}\le h(t)\) (\(t\in [0,\infty )\); \(\underline{h}\) is constant) (“large damping”); in other words, they can be applied to the general case \(0\le h(t)<\infty \) (\(t\in [0,\infty \))). We establish a condition which combines weak integral positivity with Smith’s growth condition

$$\begin{aligned} \int ^\infty _0 \exp [-H(t)]\int _0^t \exp [H(s)]\,\mathrm{{d}}s\,\mathrm{{d}}t=\infty \qquad \left( H(t):=\int _0^t h(\tau )\,\mathrm{{d}}\tau \right) , \end{aligned}$$

so it is able to control both the small and the large values of the damping coefficient simultaneously.

     

On the Justification of Viscoelastic Elliptic Membrane Shell Equations

We consider a family of linearly viscoelastic shells with thickness \(2\varepsilon\), clamped along their entire lateral face, all having the same middle surface \(S=\boldsymbol{\theta}(\bar{\omega})\subset \mathbb{R}^{3}\), where \(\omega\subset\mathbb{R}^{2}\) is a bounded and connected open set with a Lipschitz-continuous boundary \(\gamma\). We make an essential geometrical assumption on the middle surface \(S\), which is satisfied if \(\gamma\) and \(\boldsymbol{\theta}\) are smooth enough and \(S\) is uniformly elliptic. We show that, if the applied body force density is \(O(1)\) with respect to \(\varepsilon\) and surface tractions density is \(O(\varepsilon)\), the solution of the scaled variational problem in curvilinear coordinates, \(\boldsymbol{u}( \varepsilon)\), defined over the fixed domain \(\varOmega=\omega\times (-1,1)\) for each \(t\in[0,T]\), converges to a limit \(\boldsymbol{u}\) with \(u_{\alpha}(\varepsilon)\rightarrow u_{\alpha}\) in \(W^{1,2}(0,T,H ^{1}(\varOmega))\) and \(u_{3}(\varepsilon)\rightarrow u_{3}\) in \(W^{1,2}(0,T,L^{2}(\varOmega))\) as \(\varepsilon\to0\). Moreover, we prove that this limit is independent of the transverse variable. Furthermore, the average \(\bar{\boldsymbol{u}}= \frac{1}{2}\int_{-1}^{1} \boldsymbol{u}dx_{3}\), which belongs to the space \(W^{1,2}(0,T, V_{M}( \omega))\), where

$$V_{M}(\omega)=H^{1}_{0}(\omega)\times H^{1}_{0}(\omega)\times L ^{2}(\omega), $$

satisfies what we have identified as (scaled) two-dimensional equations of a viscoelastic membrane elliptic shell, which includes a long-term memory that takes into account previous deformations. We finally provide convergence results which justify those equations.

     

New Derived from Anosov Diffeomorphisms with Pathological Center Foliation

In this paper we focused our study on derived from Anosov diffeomorphisms (DA diffeomorphisms ) of the torus \(\mathbb {T}^3,\) it is, an absolute partially hyperbolic diffeomorphism on \(\mathbb {T}^3\) homotopic to a linear Anosov automorphism of the \(\mathbb {T}^3.\) We can prove that if \(f: \mathbb {T}^3 \rightarrow \mathbb {T}^3 \) is a volume preserving DA diffeomorphism homotopic to a linear Anosov A,  such that the center Lyapunov exponent satisfies \(\lambda ^c_f(x) > \lambda ^c_A > 0,\) with x belongs to a positive volume set, then the center foliation of f is non absolutely continuous. We construct a new open class U of non Anosov and volume preserving DA diffeomorphisms, satisfying the property \(\lambda ^c_f(x) > \lambda ^c_A > 0\) for \(m-\)almost everywhere \(x \in \mathbb {T}^3.\) Particularly for every \(f \in U,\) the center foliation of f is non absolutely continuous.     

Whirl Mappings on Generalised Annuli and the Incompressible Symmetric Equilibria of the Dirichlet Energy

In this paper we show a striking contrast in the symmetries of equilibria and extremisers of the total elastic energy of a hyperelastic incompressible annulus subject to pure displacement boundary conditions. Indeed upon considering the equilibrium equations, here, the nonlinear second order elliptic system formulated for the deformation \(u=(u_{1}, \ldots, u_{N})\):

$$ {\mathbb{E}} {\mathbb{L}}[u, {\mathbf {X}}] = \left \{ \textstyle\begin{array}{l@{\quad}l} \Delta u = \operatorname{div}(\mathscr{P} (x) \operatorname{cof} \nabla u) & \textrm{in }{\mathbf {X}},\\ \det\nabla u = 1 & \textrm{in }{\mathbf {X}},\\ u \equiv\varphi& \textrm{on }\partial{\mathbf {X}}, \end{array}\displaystyle \right . $$

where \({\mathbf {X}}\) is a finite, open, symmetric \(N\)-annulus (with \(N \ge2\)), \(\mathscr{P}=\mathscr{P}(x)\) is an unknown hydrostatic pressure field and \(\varphi\) is the identity mapping, we prove that, despite the inherent rotational symmetry in the system, when \(N=3\), the problem possesses no non-trivial symmetric equilibria whereas in sharp contrast, when \(N=2\), the problem possesses an infinite family of symmetric and topologically distinct equilibria. We extend and prove the counterparts of these results in higher dimensions by way of showing that a similar dichotomy persists between all odd vs. even dimensions \(N \ge4\) and discuss a number of closely related issues.

     

Stationary Solutions and Connecting Orbits for <Emphasis Type="Italic">p</Emphasis>-Laplace Equation

We deal with one dimensional p-Laplace equation of the form

$$\begin{aligned} u_t = (|u_x|^{p-2} u_x )_x + f(x,u), \ x\in (0,l), \ t>0, \end{aligned}$$

under Dirichlet boundary condition, where \(p>2\) and \(f:[0,l]\times {\mathbb {R}}\rightarrow {\mathbb {R}}\) is a continuous function with \(f(x,0)=0\). We will prove that if there is at least one eigenvalue of the p-Laplace operator between \(\lim _{u\rightarrow 0} f(x,u)/|u|^{p-2}u\) and \(\lim _{|u|\rightarrow +\infty } f(x,u)/|u|^{p-2}u\), then there exists a nontrivial stationary solution. Moreover we show the existence of a connecting orbit between stationary solutions. The results are based on Conley index and detect stationary states even when those based on fixed point theory do not apply. In order to compute the Conley index for nonlinear semiflows deformation along p is used.

     

Temporal Homogenization of Linear ODEs,with Applications to Parametric Super-Resonance and Energy Harvest

We consider the temporal homogenization of linear ODEs of the form \({\dot{x}=Ax+\epsilon P(t)x+f(t)}\), where P(t) is periodic and \({\epsilon}\) is small. Using a 2-scale expansion approach, we obtain the long-time approximation \({x(t)\approx {\rm exp}(At) \left( \Omega(t)+\int_0^t {\rm exp}(-A \tau) f(\tau) {\rm d}\tau \right)}\), where \({\Omega}\) solves the cell problem \({\dot{\Omega}=\epsilon B \Omega + \epsilon F(t)}\) with an effective matrix B and an explicitly-known F(t). We provide necessary and sufficient conditions for the accuracy of the approximation (over a \({{\mathcal{O}}(\epsilon^{-1})}\) time-scale), and show how B can be computed (at a cost independent of \({\epsilon}\)). As a direct application, we investigate the possibility of using RLC circuits to harvest the energy contained in small scale oscillations of ambient electromagnetic fields (such as Schumann resonances). Although a RLC circuit parametrically coupled to the field may achieve such energy extraction via parametric resonance, its resistance R needs to be smaller than a threshold \({\kappa}\) proportional to the fluctuations of the field, thereby limiting practical applications. We show that if n RLC circuits are appropriately coupled via mutual capacitances or inductances, then energy extraction can be achieved when the resistance of each circuit is smaller than \({n\kappa}\). Hence, if the resistance of each circuit has a non-zero fixed value, energy extraction can be made possible through the coupling of a sufficiently large number n of circuits (\({n\approx 1000}\) for the first mode of Schumann resonances and contemporary values of capacitances, inductances and resistances). The theory is also applied to the control of the oscillation amplitude of a (damped) oscillator.     

FEM solution to natural convection flow of a micropolar nanofluid in the presence of a magnetic field

The two-dimensional, laminar, unsteady natural convection flow in a square enclosure filled with aluminum oxide (\(\hbox {Al}_{2} \hbox {O}_{3}\))–water nanofluid under the influence of a magnetic field, is considered numerically. The nanofluid is considered as Newtonian and incompressible, the nanoparticles and water are assumed to be in thermal equilibrium. The mathematical modelling results in a coupled nonlinear system of partial differential equations. The equations are solved using finite element method (FEM) in space, whereas, the implicit backward difference scheme is used in time direction. The results are obtained for Rayleigh (Ra), Hartmann (Ha) numbers, and nanoparticles volume fractions (\(\phi\)), in the ranges of \(10^3 \le Ra \le 10^7\), \(0\le Ha \le 500\) and \(0 \le \phi \le 0.2\), respectively. The streamlines and microrotation contours are observed to show similar behaviors with altering magnitudes. For low Ra values, when \(Ha=0\), symmetric vortices near the walls and a central vortex in opposite direction are observed in vorticity. As Ra increases, the central vortex splits into two due to the circulation in the effect of the buoyant flow. Boundary layer formation is observed when Ha increases for almost all Rayleigh numbers in both streamlines and vorticity. The isotherms have horizontal profiles for high Ra values owing to convective dominance over conduction. As Ha is increased, the convection effect is reduced, and isotherms tend to have vertical profiles. This study presents the first FEM application for solving highly nonlinear PDEs defining micropolar nanofluid flow especially for large values of Rayleigh and Hartmann numbers.     

Time Periodic Traveling Curved Fronts in the Periodic Lotka–Volterra Competition–Diffusion System

This paper is concerned with time periodic traveling curved fronts for periodic Lotka–Volterra competition system with diffusion in two dimensional spatial space

$$\begin{aligned} {\left\{ \begin{array}{ll} \dfrac{\partial u_{1}}{\partial t}=\Delta u_{1} +u_{1}(x,y,t)\left( r_{1}(t)-a_{1}(t)u_{1}(x,y,t)-b_{1}(t)u_{2}(x,y,t)\right) ,\\ \dfrac{\partial u_{2}}{\partial t}=d\Delta u_{2} +u_{2}(x,y,t)\left( r_{2}(t)-a_{2}(t)u_{1}(x,y,t)-b_{2}(t)u_{2}(x,y,t)\right) , \end{array}\right. } \end{aligned}$$

where \(\Delta \) denotes \(\frac{\partial ^{2}}{\partial x^{2} }+ \frac{\partial ^{2}}{\partial y^{2} }\), \(x,y\in {\mathbb {R}}\) and \(d>0\) is a constant, the functions \(r_i(t),a_i(t)\) and \(b_i(t)\) are T-periodic and Hölder continuous. Under suitable assumptions that the corresponding kinetic system admits two stable periodic solutions (p(t), 0) and (0, q(t)), the existence, uniqueness and stability of one-dimensional traveling wave solution \(\left( \Phi _{1}(x+ct,t),\Phi _{2}(x+ct,t)\right) \) connecting two periodic solutions (p(t), 0) and (0, q(t)) have been established by Bao and Wang ( J Differ Equ 255:2402–2435, 2013) recently. In this paper we continue to investigate two-dimensional traveling wave solutions of the above system under the same assumptions. First, we establish the asymptotic behaviors of one-dimensional traveling wave solutions of the system at infinity. Using these asymptotic behaviors, we then construct appropriate super- and subsolutions and prove the existence and non-existence of two-dimensional time periodic traveling curved fronts. Finally, we show that the time periodic traveling curved front is asymptotically stable.

     

Influence of hydrodynamic slip on convective transport in flow past a circular cylinder

The presence of a finite tangential velocity on a hydrodynamically slipping surface is known to reduce vorticity production in bluff body flows substantially while at the same time enhancing its convection downstream and into the wake. Here, we investigate the effect of hydrodynamic slippage on the convective heat transfer (scalar transport) from a heated isothermal circular cylinder placed in a uniform cross-flow of an incompressible fluid through analytical and simulation techniques. At low Reynolds (\({\textit{Re}}\ll 1\)) and high Péclet (\({\textit{Pe}}\gg 1\)) numbers, our theoretical analysis based on Oseen and thermal boundary layer equations allows for an explicit determination of the dependence of the thermal transport on the non-dimensional slip length \(l_s\). In this case, the surface-averaged Nusselt number, Nu transitions gradually between the asymptotic limits of \(Nu \sim {\textit{Pe}}^{1/3}\) and \(Nu \sim {\textit{Pe}}^{1/2}\) for no-slip (\(l_s \rightarrow 0\)) and shear-free (\(l_s \rightarrow \infty \)) boundaries, respectively. Boundary layer analysis also shows that the scaling \(Nu \sim {\textit{Pe}}^{1/2}\) holds for a shear-free cylinder surface in the asymptotic limit of \({\textit{Re}}\gg 1\) so that the corresponding heat transfer rate becomes independent of the fluid viscosity. At finite \({\textit{Re}}\), results from our two-dimensional simulations confirm the scaling \(Nu \sim {\textit{Pe}}^{1/2}\) for a shear-free boundary over the range \(0.1 \le {\textit{Re}}\le 10^3\) and \(0.1\le {\textit{Pr}}\le 10\). A gradual transition from the lower asymptotic limit corresponding to a no-slip surface, to the upper limit for a shear-free boundary, with \(l_s\), is observed in both the maximum slip velocity and the Nu. The local time-averaged Nusselt number \(Nu_{\theta }\) for a shear-free surface exceeds the one for a no-slip surface all along the cylinder boundary except over the downstream portion where unsteady separation and flow reversal lead to an appreciable rise in the local heat transfer rates, especially at high \({\textit{Re}}\) and Pr. At a Reynolds number of \(10^3\), the formation of secondary recirculating eddy pairs results in appearance of additional local maxima in \(Nu_{\theta }\) at locations that are in close proximity to the mean secondary stagnation points. As a consequence, Nu exhibits a non-monotonic variation with \(l_s\) increasing initially from its lowermost value for a no-slip surface and then decreasing before rising gradually toward the upper asymptotic limit for a shear-free cylinder. A non-monotonic dependence of the spanwise-averaged Nu on \(l_s\) is observed in three dimensions as well with the three-dimensional wake instabilities that appear at sufficiently low \(l_s\), strongly influencing the convective thermal transport from the cylinder. The analogy between heat transfer and single-component mass transfer implies that our results can directly be applied to determine the dependency of convective mass transfer of a single solute on hydrodynamic slip length in similar configurations through straightforward replacement of Nu and \({\textit{Pr}}\) with Sherwood and Schmidt numbers, respectively.     

Steady Nearly Incompressible Vector Fields in Two-Dimension: Chain Rule and Renormalization

Given bounded vector field \({b : {\mathbb{R}^{d}} \to {\mathbb{R}^{d}}}\), scalar field \({u : {\mathbb{R}^{d}} \to {\mathbb{R}}}\), and a smooth function \({\beta : {\mathbb{R}} \to {\mathbb{R}}}\), we study the characterization of the distribution \({{\rm div}(\beta(u)b)}\) in terms of div b and div(ub). In the case of BV vector fields b (and under some further assumptions), such characterization was obtained by L. Ambrosio, C. De Lellis and J. Malý, up to an error term which is a measure concentrated on the so-called tangential set of b. We answer some questions posed in their paper concerning the properties of this term. In particular, we construct a nearly incompressible BV vector field b and a bounded function u for which this term is nonzero. For steady nearly incompressible vector fields b (and under some further assumptions), in the case when d = 2, we provide complete characterization of div(\({\beta(u)b}\)) in terms of div b and div(ub). Our approach relies on the structure of level sets of Lipschitz functions on \({{\mathbb{R}^{2}}}\) obtained by G. Alberti, S. Bianchini and G. Crippa. Extending our technique, we obtain new sufficient conditions when any bounded weak solution u of \({\partial_t u + b \cdot \nabla u=0}\) is renormalized, that is when it also solves \({\partial_t \beta(u) + b \cdot \nabla \beta(u)=0}\) for any smooth function \({\beta \colon{\mathbb{R}} \to {\mathbb{R}}}\). As a consequence, we obtain new a uniqueness result for this equation.     

Multiple Solutions for a Class of Nonhomogeneous Fractional Schrödinger Equations in $$\mathbb {R}^{N}$$

This paper is concerned with the following fractional Schrödinger equation

$$\begin{aligned} \left\{ \begin{array}{ll} (-\Delta )^{s} u+u= k(x)f(u)+h(x) \text{ in } \mathbb {R}^{N}\\ u\in H^{s}(\mathbb {R}^{N}), \, u>0 \text{ in } \mathbb {R}^{N}, \end{array} \right. \end{aligned}$$

where \(s\in (0,1),N> 2s, (-\Delta )^{s}\) is the fractional Laplacian, k is a bounded positive function, \(h\in L^{2}(\mathbb {R}^{N}), h\not \equiv 0\) is nonnegative and f is either asymptotically linear or superlinear at infinity. By using the s-harmonic extension technique and suitable variational methods, we prove the existence of at least two positive solutions for the problem under consideration, provided that \(|h|_{2}\) is sufficiently small.