Analysis of PDEs (math.AP)

Abstract: We consider the transport equation of a passive scalar $f(x,t)\in\mathbb{R}$ along a divergence-free vector field $u(x,t)\in\mathbb{R}^2$, given by $\frac{\partial f}{\partial t} + \nabla\cdot (u f) = 0$; and the associated advection-diffusion equation of $f$ along $u$, with positive viscosity/diffusivity parameter $\nu>0$, given by $\frac{\partial f}{\partial t} + \nabla\cdot (u f) -\nu\Delta f = 0$. We demonstrate failure of the vanishing viscosity limit of advection-diffusion to select unique solutions, or to select entropy-admissible solutions, to transport along $u$. First, we construct a bounded divergence-free vector field $u$ which has, for each (non-constant) initial datum, two weak solutions to the transport equation. Moreover, we show that both these solutions are renormalised weak solutions, and are obtained as strong limits of a subsequence of the vanishing viscosity limit of the corresponding advection-diffusion equation. Second, we construct a second bounded divergence-free vector field $u$ admitting, for any initial datum, a weak solution to the transport equation which is perfectly mixed to its spatial average, and after a delay, unmixes to its initial state. Moreover, we show that this entropy-inadmissible unmixing is the unique weak vanishing viscosity limit of the corresponding advection-diffusion equation.

Abstract: We demonstrate that in three space dimensions, the scattering behaviour of semilinear wave equations with quintic-type nonlinearities uniquely determines the nonlinearity. The nonlinearity is permitted to depend on both space and time.

Abstract: We consider the Schr{\"o}dinger equation in $\mathbf{R}^d$, $d \ge 1$, with a confining potential growing at most quadratically. Our main theorem characterizes open sets from which observability holds, provided they are sufficiently regular in a certain sense. The observability condition involves the Hamiltonian flow associated with the Schr{\"o}dinger operator under consideration. It is obtained using semiclassical analysis techniques. It allows to provide with an accurate estimation of the optimal observation time. We illustrate this result with several examples. In the case of two-dimensional harmonic potentials, focusing on conical or rotation-invariant observation sets, we express our observability condition in terms of arithmetical properties of the characteristic frequencies of the oscillator.

Abstract: We analyze a reaction-diffusion system on $\mathbb{R}^{N}$ which models the dispersal of individuals between two exchanging environments for its diffusive component and incorporates a Fujita-type growth for its reactive component. The originality of this model lies in the coupling of the equations through diffusion, which, to the best of our knowledge, has not been studied in Fujita-type problems. We first consider the underlying diffusive problem, demonstrating that the solutions converge exponentially fast towards those of two uncoupled equations, featuring a dispersive operator that is somehow a combination of Laplacians. By subsequently adding Fujita-type reaction terms to recover the entire system, we identify the critical exponent that separates systematic blow-up from possible global existence.

Abstract: We study the structure of solutions of the interior Bernoulli free boundary problem for $(-\Delta)^{\alpha/2}$ on an interval $D$ with parameter $\lambda > 0$. In particular, we show that there exists a constant $\lambda_{\alpha,D} > 0$ (called the Bernoulli constant) such that the problem has no solution for $\lambda \in (0,\lambda_{\alpha,D})$, at least one solution for $\lambda = \lambda_{\alpha,D}$ and at least two solutions for $\lambda > \lambda_{\alpha,D}$. We also study the interior Bernoulli problem for the fractional Laplacian for an interval with one free boundary point. We discuss the connection of the Bernoulli problem with the corresponding variational problem and present some conjectures. In particular, we show for $\alpha = 1$ that there exist solutions of the interior Bernoulli free boundary problem for $(-\Delta)^{\alpha/2}$ on an interval which are not minimizers of the corresponding variational problem.

Abstract: We consider the Cauchy problem of the system of nonlinear Schr\"odinger equations with derivative nonlinearlity. This system was introduced by Colin-Colin (2004) as a model of laser-plasma interactions. We study existence of ground state solutions and the global well-posedness of this system by using the variational methods. We also consider the stability of traveling waves for this system. These problems are proposed by Colin-Colin as the open problems. We give a subset of the ground-states set which satisfies the condition of stability. In particular, we prove the stability of the set of traveling waves with small speed for $1$-dimension.

Abstract: We present a blow-up result for large data for relaxed compressible Navier-Stokes models avoiding the possibility of reaching the boundary of hyperbolicity. Thus a previous result is improved and further examples are given illustrating possible effects of a relaxation and contrasting the classical compressible Navier-Stokes equations without relaxation where solutions for large data exist globally.

Abstract: We investigated existence of global weak solutions for a system of chemotaxis-hapotaxis type with nonlinear degenerate diffusion, arising in modelling Multiple Sclerosis disease. The model consists of three equations describing the evolution of macrophages ($m$), cytokine ($c$) and apoptotic oligodendrocytes ($d$). The main novelty in our work is the presence of a nonlinear diffusivity $D(m)$, which results to be more appropriate from the modelling point of view. Under suitable assumptions and for sufficiently regular initial data, adapting the strategy in [30,44], we show the existence of global bounded solutions for the model analysed.

Abstract: In this paper we prove some results on the boundary behavior of solutions to fractional elliptic problems. Firstly, we establish a Hopf Lemma for solutions to some integro-differential equations. The main novelty of our result is that we do not assume any global condition on the sign of the solutions. Secondly, we show that non-trivial radial solutions cannot have infinitely many zeros accumulating at the boundary. We provide concrete examples to show that the results obtained are sharp.

Abstract: For the system of equations of linear elasticity with periodic coefficients displaying high contrast, in the regime of resonant scaling between the material properties of the ``soft" part of the medium and the spatial period, we construct an asymptotic approximation exhibiting time-dispersive properties of the medium and prove associated order-sharp error estimates in the sense of the $L^2\to L^2$ operator norm. The analytic framework presented can be viewed as an advanced version of the one presented in [Effective behaviour of critical-contrast PDEs: micro-resonances, frequency conversion, and time dispersive properties.\,I. Commun. Math. Phys. 375, 1833--1884], where the corresponding setup of a scalar PDEs was addressed.

Abstract: In this paper our objective is to investigate the existence of multiple normalized solutions to the logarithmic Schr\"{o}dinger equation given by \begin{align*} \left\{ \begin{aligned} &-\epsilon^2 \Delta u+V( x)u=\lambda u+u \log u^2, \quad \quad \hbox{in }\mathbb{R}^N,\\ &\int_{\mathbb{R}^{N}}|u|^{2}dx=a^{2}\epsilon^N, \end{aligned} \right. \end{align*} where $a, \epsilon>0, \lambda \in \mathbb{R}$ is an unknown parameter that appears as a Lagrange multiplier and $V: \mathbb{R}^N \rightarrow[-1, \infty)$ is a continuous function. Our analysis demonstrates that the number of normalized solutions of the equation is associated with the topology of the set where the potential function $V$ attains its minimum value. To prove the main result, we employ minimization techniques and use the Lusternik-Schnirelmann category. Additionally, we introduce a new function space where the energy functional associated with the problem is of class $C^1$.

Abstract: We study the nonlinear dynamics of perturbed, spectrally stable $T$-periodic stationary solutions of the Lugiato-Lefever equation (LLE), a damped nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation with forcing that arises in nonlinear optics. It is known that for each $N\in\mathbb{N}$, such a $T$-periodic wave train is (orbitally) asymptotically stable against $NT$-periodic, i.e. subharmonic, perturbations. Unfortunately, in such results both the allowable size of initial perturbations as well as the exponential decay rates of perturbations depend on $N$ and, in fact, tend to zero as $N\to\infty$, leading to a lack of uniformity in the period of the perturbation. In recent work, the authors performed a delicate decomposition of the associated linearized solution operator and obtained linear estimates which are uniform in $N$. The dynamical description suggested by this uniform linear theory indicates that the corresponding nonlinear iteration can only be closed if one allows for a spatio-temporal phase modulation of the underlying wave. However, such a modulated perturbation is readily seen to satisfy a quasilinear equation, yielding an inherent loss of regularity. We regain regularity by transferring a nonlinear damping estimate, which has recently been obtained for the LLE in the case of localized perturbations to the case of subharmonic perturbations. Thus, we obtain a nonlinear, subharmonic stability result for periodic stationary solutions of the LLE that is uniform in $N$. This in turn yields an improved nonuniform subharmonic stability result providing an $N$-independent ball of initial perturbations which eventually exhibit exponential decay at an $N$-dependent rate. Finally, we argue that our results connect in the limit $N \to \infty$ to previously established stability results against localized perturbations, thereby unifying existing theories.

Abstract: We develop regularity theory for critical points of variational integrals defined on Hessian spaces of functions on open, bounded subdomains of $\mathbb{R}^n$, under compactly supported variations. The critical point solves a fourth order nonlinear equation in double divergence form. We show that for smooth convex functionals, a $W^{2,\infty}$ critical point with bounded Hessian is smooth provided that its Hessian has a small bounded mean oscillation (BMO). We deduce that the interior singular set of a critical point has Hausdorff dimension at most $n-p_0$, for some $p_0 \in (2,3)$. We state some applications of our results to variational problems in Lagrangian geometry. Finally, we use the Hamiltonian stationary equation to demonstrate the importance of our assumption on the a priori regularity of the critical point.

Abstract: In this paper we prove the existence of global in time small data solutions of semilinear Klein-Gordon equations in the space-time with a static Schwarzschild radius in the expanding universe.

Abstract: We consider weighted Hardy inequalities involving the distance function to the boundary of a domain in the $N$-dimensional Euclidean space with nonempty boundary. We give a lower bound for the corresponding best Hardy constant for a domain satisfying a uniform exterior cone condition. This lower bound depends on the aperture of the corresponding infinite circular cone.

Abstract: We study an inverse problem for a coupled system of semilinear Helmholtz equations where we are interested in reconstructing multiple coefficients in the system from internal data measured in applications such as thermoacoustic imaging. We derive results on the uniqueness and stability of the inverse problem in the case of small boundary data based on the technique of first- and higher-order linearization. Numerical simulations are provided to illustrate the quality of reconstructions that can be expected from noisy data.