On an initial‐boundary value problem for a wide‐angle parabolic equation in a waveguide with a variable bottom

We consider the third‐order Claerbout‐type wide‐angle parabolic equation (PE) of underwater acoustics in a cylindrically symmetric medium consisting of water over a soft bottom B of range‐dependent topography. There is strong indication that the initial‐boundary value problem for this equation with just a homogeneous Dirichlet boundary condition posed on B may not be well‐posed, for example when B is downsloping. We impose, in addition to the above, another homogeneous, second‐order boundary condition, derived by assuming that the standard (narrow‐angle) PE holds on B, and establish a priori H² estimates for the solution of the resulting initial‐boundary value problem for any bottom topography. After a change of the depth variable that makes B horizontal, we discretize the transformed problem by a second‐order accurate finite difference scheme and show, in the case of upsloping and downsloping wedge‐type domains, that the new model gives stable and accurate results. We also present an alternative set of boundary conditions that make the problem exactly energy conserving; one of these conditions may be viewed as a generalization of the Abrahamsson–Kreiss boundary condition in the wide‐angle case. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Connection between an Exactly Solvable Stochastic Optimal Control Problem and a Nonlinear Reaction-Diffusion Equation

We present an exactly soluble optimal stochastic control problem involving a diffusive two-states random evolution process and connect it to a nonlinear reaction-diffusion type of equation by using the technique of logarithmic transformations. The work generalizes the recently established connection between the non-linear Boltzmann-like equations introduced by Ruijgrok and Wu and the optimal control of a two-states random evolution process. In the sense of this generalization, the nonlinear reaction-diffusion equation is identified as the natural diffusive generalization of the Ruijgrok–Wu and Boltzmann model.     

Different choices of scaling in homogenization of diffusion and interfacial exchange in a porous medium

Several choices of scaling are investigated for a coupled system of parabolic partial differential equations in a two‐phase medium at the microscopic scale. This system may be regarded as modelling a reaction–diffusion problem, the Stokes problem of single‐phase flow of a slightly compressible fluid or as a heat conduction problem (with or without interfacial resistance), for example. It is shown that, starting with the same problem on the microscopic scale, different choices of scaling of the diffusion coefficients (resp. permeability or conductivity) and the interfacial‐exchange coefficient lead to different types of macroscopic systems of equations. The characterization of the limit problems in terms of the scaling parameters constitutes a modelling tool because it allows to determine the right type of limit problem. New macroscopic models, not previously dealt with, arise and, for some scalings, classical macroscopic models are recovered. Using the method of two‐scale convergence, a unified approach yielding rigorous proofs is given covering a very broad class of different scalings. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A new difference scheme with high accuracy and absolute stability for solving convection–diffusion equations

In this paper, we use a semi-discrete and a padé approximation method to propose a new difference scheme for solving convection–diffusion problems. The truncation error of the difference scheme is O(h⁴+τ⁵). It is shown through analysis that the scheme is unconditionally stable. Numerical experiments are conducted to test its high accuracy and to compare it with Crank–Nicolson method.     

On the index of the boundary value problem for a homogeneous Hamiltonian system of differential equations

The index of the homogeneous self-adjoint boundary value problem for the Hamiltonian systems of ordinary differential equations is introduced. It is assumed that the system has a nontrivial solution. The relationship between the index of an eigenvalue of the nonlinear eigenvalue problem and the index of the corresponding homogeneous problem is established. Properties of the index of the problem and those of the eigenvalue are examined.     

广义多值拟变分包含的灵敏性分析

借助隐预解算子技巧来研究广义多值拟变分包含的灵敏性分析．所得结果改进、推广和统一了文献中的一些结果．     

On the theory of convolution equations of the third kind, II

Existence results of Part I of the paper are generalized to two types of autoconvolution equations of the third kind having free terms with nonzero values at x=0 like the well-known Bernstein-Doetsch equation for the Jacobian theta zero functions. Also uniqueness results for the linear convolution equations in Part I of the paper are extended to more general function spaces. Further, a special class of integro-differential equations with autoconvolution integral and two classes of the linear singular Abel-Volterra equations are dealt with.     

A weak Kantorovich existence theorem for the solution of nonlinear equations

The Kantorovich theorem is a fundamental tool in nonlinear analysis for proving the existence and uniqueness of solutions of nonlinear equations arising in various fields. This theorem was weakened recently by Argyros who used a combination of Lipschitz and center-Lipschitz conditions in place of the Lipschitz conditions of the Kantorovich theorem. In the present paper we prove a weak Kantorovich-type theorem that gives the same conclusions as the previous two results under weaker conditions. Illustrative examples are provided in the paper.