On a double degenerate fourth-order parabolic equation

The existence of solutions to a fourth-order p-Laplacian equation with boundary degeneracy is studied. For the purpose of solving the corresponding non-degenerate (with respect to the coefficient of fourth-order term) regularized problem, a fourth-order semi-discrete elliptic problem with homogeneous boundary conditions is established and its existence and uniqueness are obtained by the functional minimization method. It follows that the approximate solutions of the non-degenerate parabolic problem are constructed and the corresponding existence and uniqueness are discovered by a limit procedure from the energy estimation method and a compactness argument. Finally, the existence and regularity of solutions for the problem with boundary degeneracy is obtained by using a regularization parameter vanishing limit.     

A theoretical study of the relative affinities of an aliphatic and an aromatic bisguanylhydrazone for the minor groove of double-stranded (dA-dT) n oligomers

The nonintercalative binding of an aliphatic and an aromatic bisguanylhydrazone (BGH) to the minor groove of double-stranded (dA-dT) _n oligomers is investigated by means of theoretical computations. The preferred binding arrangements of both BGHs are stabilized by a number of H-bonding interactions with sites O₂(T), N₃(A) and o₁ on the two strands, and require limited conformational rearrangements of the BGHs around their C-C single bonds. The intermolecular interaction energy is larger with the aliphatic BGH than with the aromatic one. The energy difference is, however, considerably reduced when the oligomer is lengthened: it passes from 16.1 kcal/mole at the heptamer level, to 7.9 kcal/mole at the undecamer level and to 4.6 kcal/mole when each strand of the undecamer is flanked with a complementary complete helical turn of phosphates, on both the 3 and 5 termini.The interaction energies of the BGHs with water molecules in the first hydration shell are, however, also larger with the aliphatic BGH, than with the aromatic BGH. This energy difference is further enhanced when one considers also the water molecules in the second shell. It becomes greater than the difference in the interaction energy of the two BGHs with (dA-dT) _n for large values of n. When the dehydration energy of BGHs is taken into account the overall energy balance is then more favorable for the interaction of the aromatic than of the aliphatic BGH with the polynucleotide. This last conclusion is in agreement with experimental results.     

A convergence result for a sequence of distributed-parameter optimal control problems

In this paper, we consider a sequence of abstract optimal control problems by allowing the cost integrand, the partial differential operator, and the control constraint set all to vary simultaneously. Using the notions of -convergence of functions,G-convergence of operators, and Kuratowski-Mosco convergence of sets, we show that the values of the approximating problems converge to that of the limit problem. Also we show that a convergent sequence of optimal pairs for the approximating problems has a limit which is optimal for the limit problem. A concrete example of parabolic optimal control problems is worked out in detail.This research was supported by NSF Grant No. DMS-88-02688.     

Convergence of the Finite Difference Scheme for a Fast Diffusion Equation in Porous Media

We are concerned with an implicit scheme for the finite difference solution to a nonlinear parabolic equation with a multivalued coefficient that describes the fast diffusion in a porous medium. The boundary conditions contain the multivalued function as well. We prove the stability and the convergence of the scheme, emphasizing the precise nature of convergence in this specific case, and compute the error level of the approximating solution. The method is aimed to simplify the numerical computations for the solutions to equations of this type, without performing an approximation of the multivalued function. The theory is illustrated by numerical results.     

New method to solve electromagnetic parabolic equation

This paper puts forward a new method to solve the electromagnetic parabolic equation （EMPE） by taking the vertically-layered inhomogeneous characteristics of the atmospheric refractive index into account. First, the Fourier transform and the convo- lution theorem are employed, and the second-order partial differential equation, i.e., the EMPE, in the height space is transformed into first-order constant coefficient differential equations in the frequency space. Then, by use of the lower triangular characteristics of the coefficient matrix, the numerical solutions are designed. Through constructing ana- lytical solutions to the EMPE, the feasibility of the new method is validated. Finally, the numerical solutions to the new method are compared with those of the commonly used split-step Fourier algorithm.     

On the Rayleigh-Plateau instability

In this paper,we study the surface instability of a cylindrical pore in the absence of stress. This instability is called the Rayleigh-Plateau instabilty. We consider the model developed by Spencer et ...     

Homogenization of parabolic problem with nonlinear transmission condition

In this paper, we investigate the periodic homogenization of nonlinear parabolic equation arising from heat exchange in composite material problems. This problem, defined in periodical domain, is nonlinear at the interface. This nonlinearity models the heat radiation on the interface, which constitutes the transmission boundary conditions, between the two components of the material. The main challenge is, first, to show the well-posedness of the microscopic problem using the topological degree of Leray–Schauder tools. Then, we apply the two scale convergence to identify the equivalent macroscopic model using homogenization techniques. Finally, in order to confirm the efficiency of the homogenization process, we present some numerical results obtained via finite element approximation.     

Harnack's inequality for parabolic nonlocal equations

The main result of this paper is a nonlocal version of Harnack's inequality for a class of parabolic nonlocal equations. We additionally establish a weak Harnack inequality as well as local boundedness of solutions. None of the results require the solution to be globally positive.     

Local boundedness of weak solutions to the Diffusive Wave Approximation of the Shallow Water equations

In this paper we prove that weak solutions to the Diffusive Wave Approximation of the Shallow Water equations

${?}_{t}u?\mathrm{?}?({(u?z)}^{\alpha }|\mathrm{?}u{|}^{\gamma ?1}\mathrm{?}u)=f$

are locally bounded. Here, u describes the height of the water, z is a given function that represents the land elevation and f is a source term accounting for evaporation, infiltration or rainfall.