Continuation of blowup solutions of nonlinear heat equations in several space dimensions

The possible continuation of solutions of the nonlinear heat equation in R^N × R₊ u_t = Δu^m + u^p with m > 0, p > 1, after the blowup time is studied and the different continuation modes are discussed in terms of the exponents m and p. Thus, for m + p ≤ 2 we find a phenomenon of nontrivial continuation where the region {x : u(x, t) = ∞} is bounded and propagates with finite speed. This we call incomplete blowup. For N ≥ 3 and p > m(N + 2)/(N ? 2) we find solutions that blow up at finite t = T and then become bounded again for t > T. Otherwise, we find that blowup is complete for a wide class of initial data. In the analysis of the behavior for large p, a list of critical exponents appears whose role is described. We also discuss a number of related problems and equations. We apply the same technique of analysis to the problem of continuation after the onset of extinction, for example, for the equation u_t = Δu^m ? u^p, m > 0. We find that no continuation exists if p + m ≤ 0 (complete extinction), and there exists a nontrivial continuation if p + m > 0 (incomplete extinction). © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.