We study the existence of nontrivial weak solutions for a class of generalized $p(x)$-biharmonic equations with singular nonlinearity and Navier boundary condition. The proofs combine variational and topological arguments. The approach developed in this paper allows for the treatment of several classes of singular biharmonic problems with variable growth arising in applied sciences, including the capillarity equation and the mean curvature problem.
We are interested in finding a family of solutions to a singularly perturbed biharmonic equation which has a concentration behavior. The proof is based on variational methods and it is used a weak version of the Ambrosetti-Rabinowitz condition.
We study the biharmonic equation $Δ^2 u =u^{-α}$, $0<α<1$, in a smooth and bounded domain $Ω\subset\RR^n$, $n\geq 2$, subject to Dirichlet boundary conditions. Under some suitable assumptions on $ø$ related to the positivity of the Green function for the biharmonic operator, we prove the existence and uniqueness of a solution.
We use asymptotic analysis and numerical simulations to study peak-type singular solutions of the supercritical biharmonic NLS. These solutions have a quartic-root blowup rate, and collapse with a quasi self-similar universal profile, which is a zero-Hamiltonian solution of a fourth-order nonlinear eigenvalue problem.
In this paper, we study the problem of uniqueness of tangent cone for minimizing extrinsic biharmonic maps. Following the celebrated result of Simon, we prove that if the target manifold is a compact analytic submanifold in R p and if there is one tangent map whose singularity set consists of the origin only, then this tangent map is unique.
We study here a singular perturbation problem of biLaplacian type, which can be seen as the biharmonic counterpart of classical combustion models. We provide different results, that include the convergence to a free boundary problem driven by a biharmonic operator, as introduced in a previous paper of ours, and a monotonicity formula in the plane. For the latter result, an important tool is provided by an integral identity that is satisfied by solutions of the singular perturbation problem. We also investigate the quadratic behaviour of solutions near the zero level set, at least for small val…
We present new singular solutions of the biharmonic nonlinear Schrodinger equation in dimension d and nonlinearity exponent 2σ+1. These solutions collapse with the quasi self-similar ring profile, with ring width L(t) that vanishes at singularity, and radius proportional to L^α, where α=(4-σ)/(σ(d-1)). The blowup rate of these solutions is 1/(3+α) for 4/d\leσ<4, and slightly faster than 1/4 for σ=4. These solutions are analogous to the ring-type solutions of the nonlinear Schrodinger equation.
We consider positive solutions $u$ of the semilinear biharmonic equation $Δ^2 u = |x|^{-\frac{n+4}{2}} g(|x|^\frac{n-4}{2} u)$ in $\mathbb R^n \setminus \{0\}$ with non-removable singularities at the origin. Under natural assumptions on the nonlinearity $g$, we show that $|x|^\frac{n-4}{2} u$ is a periodic function of $\ln |x|$ and we classify all such solutions.
In this paper, we consider the asymptotic behavior of positive solutions of the biharmonic equation $$ Δ^2 u = u^p~~~~~~~in ~ B_1 \backslash \{0\}$$ with an isolated singularity, where the punctured ball $B_1 \backslash \{0\} \subset \mathbb{R}^n$ with $n\geq 5$ and $\frac{n}{n-4} < p < \frac{n+4}{n-4}$. This equation is relevant for the $Q$-curvature problem in conformal geometry. We classify isolated singularities of positive solutions and describe the asymptotic behavior of positive singular solutions without the sign assumption for $-Δu$. We also give a new method to prove removable singul…
In this paper, we study the relaxed energy for biharmonic maps from a $m$-dimensional domain into spheres. By an approximation method, we prove the existence of a minimizer of the relaxed energy of the Hessian energy, and that the minimizer is biharmonic and smooth outside a singular set $Σ$ of finite $(m-4)$-dimensional Hausdorff measure. Moreover, when $m=5$, we prove that the singular set $Σ$ is 1-rectifiable.
The goal of this paper is to establish singular Adams type inequality for biharmonic operator on Heisenberg group. As an application, we establish the existence of a solution to \begin{equation*} Δ_{\mathbb{H}^n}^2 u=\frac{f(ξ,u)}{ρ(ξ)^a}\,\,\text{ in }Ω,\,\, u|_{\partialΩ}=0=\left.\frac{\partial u}{\partial ν}\right|_{\partialΩ}, \end{equation*} where $0\in Ω\subseteq \mathbb{H}^4$ is a smooth bounded domain, $0\leq a<Q,\,(Q=10).$ The special feature of this problem is that it contains an exponential nonlinearity and singular potential.
We study the following semilinear biharmonic equation $$ \left\{\begin{array}{lllllll} Δ^{2}u=\fracλ{1-u}, &\quad \mbox{in}\quad \B, u=\frac{\partial u}{\partial n}=0, &\quad \mbox{on}\quad \partial\B, \end{array} \right. %\eqno(M_λ) $$ where $\B$ is the unit ball in $\R^{n}$ and $n$ is the exterior unit normal vector. We prove the existence of $λ^{*}>0$ such that for $λ\in (0,λ^{*})$ there exists a minimal (classical) solution $\underline{u}_λ$, which satisfies $0<\underline{u}_λ<1$. In the extremal case $λ=λ^{*}$, we prove the existence of a weak solution which is unique solution even in a v…
We consider singular solutions of the biharmonic NLS. In the L^2-critical case, the blowup rate is bounded by a quartic-root power law, the solution approaches a self-similar profile, and a finite amount of L^2-norm, which is no less than the critical power, concentrates into the singularity ("strong collapse"). In the L^2-critical and supercritical cases, we use asymptotic analysis and numerical simulations to characterize singular solutions with a peak-type self-similar collapsing core. In the critical case, the blowup rate is slightly faster than a quartic-root, and the self-similar profile…
Let $λ^{*}>0$ denote the largest possible value of $λ$ such that $$ \{{array}{lllllll} Δ^{2}u=λ(1+u)^{p} & {in}\ \ \B, %0<u\leq 1 & {in}\ \ \B, u=\frac{\partial u}{\partial n} =0 & {on}\ \ \partial \B {array}. $$ has a solution, where $\B$ is the unit ball in $R^{n}$ centered at the origin, $p>\frac{n+4}{n-4}$ and $n$ is the exterior unit normal vector. We show that for $λ=λ^{*}$ this problem possesses a unique weak solution $u^{*}$, called the extremal solution. We prove that $u^{*}$ is singular when $n\geq 13$ for $p$ large enough, in which case $u^{*}(x)\leq r^{-\frac{4}{p-1}}-1$ on the uni…
We consider the following problem: \begin{eqnarray*} ( P)\qquad \displaystyle\left\{\begin{array} {ll} & Δ^2 u = K(x)u^{-α} \quad \mbox{ in }\,Ω, \\ &u> 0\quad \mbox{ in }\,Ω, \;\;u\vert_{\partialΩ}=0, \,Δu\vert_{\partialΩ} = 0. \end{array}\right. \end{eqnarray*} We prove the main existence result: Assume that $α+β<2$. Then there exists a unique solution $u$ to $(P)$. Furthermore, there exist $c_1, c_2>0$ such that \begin{eqnarray}\label{behaviour-bound} c_1 ρ(x)\leq u(x)\leq c_2 ρ(x) \end{eqnarray} where $ρ(x)=d(x,\partialΩ)$. This result is sharp: Assume that $α+β\geq 2$. Then, there is no s…
In this paper, we consider the well-posedness of the inhomogeneous nonlinear biharmonic Schrödinger equation with spatial inhomogeneity coefficient $K(x)$ behaves like $\left|x\right|^{-b}$ for $0<b<\min \left\{\frac{N}{2},4\right\} $. We show the local well-posedness in the whole $H^s$-subcritical case, with $0<s\le2$. The difficulties of this problem come from the singularity of $K(x)$ and the lack of differentiability of the nonlinear term. To resolve this, we derive the bilinear Strichartz's type estimates for the nonlinear biharmonic Schrödinger equations in Besov spaces.
We present a general framework for constructing singular solutions of nonlinear evolution equations that become singular on a d-dimensional sphere, where d>1. The asymptotic profile and blowup rate of these solutions are the same as those of solutions of the corresponding one-dimensional equation that become singular at a point. We provide a detailed numerical investigation of these new singular solutions for the following equations: The nonlinear Schrodinger equation, the biharmonic nonlinear Schrodinger equation, the nonlinear heat equation and the nonlinear biharmonic heat equation.
The inverse fixed angle problem for operator $Δ^2 u + V(x,|u|) u$ is considered in dimensions $n=2,3$. We prove that the difference between an inverse fixed angle Born approximation and the function $V(\cdot,1)$ is smoother than the function $V$ itself in some Sobolev scale. This allows us to conclude that the main singularities of the perturbation $V$ can be reconstructed from the knowledge of the scattering amplitude with some fixed incident angle.
Let $(M,g)$ be a four dimensional compact Riemannian manifold with boundary and $(N,h)$ be a compact Riemannian manifold without boundary. We show the existence of a unique, global weak solution of the heat flow of extrinsic biharmonic maps from $M$ to $N$ under the Dirichlet boundary condition, which is regular with the exception of at most finitely many time slices. We also discuss the behavior of solution near the singular times. As an immediate application, we prove the existence of a smooth extrinsic biharmonic map from $M$ to $N$ under any Dirichlet boundary condition.
We study the existence/nonexistence of positive solution to the problem of the type: \begin{equation}\tag{$P_λ$} \begin{cases} Δ^2u-μa(x)u=f(u)+λb(x)\quad\textrm{in $Ω$,}\\ u>0 \quad\textrm{in $Ω$,}\\ u=0=Δu \quad\textrm{on $\partialΩ$,} \end{cases} \end{equation} where $Ω$ is a smooth bounded domain in $\mathbb R^N$, $N\geq 5$, $a, b, f$ are nonnegaive functions satisfying certain hypothesis which we will specify later. $μ,λ$ are positive constants. Under some suitable conditions on functions $a, b, f$ and the constant $μ$, we show that there exists $λ^*>0$ such that when $0<λ<λ^*$, ($P_λ$) a…
For $n \geq 5$, we consider positive solutions $u$ of the biharmonic equation \[ Δ^2 u = u^\frac{n+4}{n-4} \qquad \text{on}\ \mathbb R^n \setminus \{0\} \] with a non-removable singularity at the origin. We show that $|x|^{\frac{n-4}{2}} u$ is a periodic function of $\ln |x|$ and we classify all periodic functions obtained in this way. This result is relevant for the description of the asymptotic behavior near singularities and for the $Q$-curvature problem in conformal geometry.
In this paper, we consider the weighted fourth order equation $$Δ(|x|^{-α}Δu)+λ\text{div}(|x|^{-α-2}\nabla u)+μ|x|^{-α-4}u=|x|^βu^p\quad \text{in} \quad \mathbb{R}^n \backslash \{0\},$$ where $n\geq 5$, $-n<α<n-4$, $p>1$ and $(p,α,β,n)$ belongs to the critical hyperbola $$\frac{n+α}{2}+\frac{n+β}{p+1}=n-2.$$ We prove the existence of radial solutions to the equation for some $λ$ and $μ$. On the other hand, let $v(t):=|x|^{\frac{n-4-α}{2}}u(|x|)$, $t=-\ln |x|$, then for the radial solution $u$ with non-removable singularity at origin, $v(t)$ is a periodic function if $α\in (-2,n-4)$ and $λ$, $μ…
In general, for higher order elliptic equations and boundary value problems like the biharmonic equation and the linear clamped plate boundary value problem neither a maximum principle nor a comparison principle or -- equivalently -- a positivity preserving property is available. The problem is rather involved since the clamped boundary conditions prevent the boundary value problem {from} being reasonably written as a system of second order boundary value problems. It is shown that, on the other hand, for bounded smooth domains $Ω\subset\mathbb{R}^n$, the negative part of the corresponding Gre…
We are interested in the qualitative properties of positive entire solutions $u \in C^4 (\mathbb{R}^n \backslash \{0\})$ of the equation \begin{equation} \label{0.0} Δ^2 u=u^{\frac{n+4}{n-4}} \;\;\mbox{in $\mathbb{R}^n \backslash \{0\}$ and 0 is a non-removable singularity of $u(x)$}. \end{equation} It is known from [Theorem 4.2] that any positive entire solution $u$ of \eqref{0.0} is radially symmetric with respect to $x=0$, i.e. $u(x)=u(|x|)$, and equation \eqref{0.0} also admits a special positive entire solution $u_s (x)=\Big(\frac{n^2 (n-4)^2}{16} \Big)^{\frac{n-4}{8}} |x|^{-\frac{n-4}{2}…
The biharmonic supercritical equation $Δ^2u=|u|^{p-1}u$, where $n>4$ and $p>(n+4)/(n-4)$, is studied in the whole space $\mathbb{R}^n$ as well as in a modified form with $λ(1+u)^p$ as right-hand-side with an additional eigenvalue parameter $λ>0$ in the unit ball, in the latter case together with Dirichlet boundary conditions. As for entire regular radial solutions we prove oscillatory behaviour around the explicitly known radial {\it singular} solution, provided $p\in((n+4)/(n-4),p_c)$, where $p_c\in ((n+4)/(n-4),\infty]$ is a further critical exponent, which was introduced in a recent work by…
In this work, we investigate the IVP for a time-fractional fourth-order equation with nonlinear source terms. More specifically, we consider the time-fractional biharmonic with exponential nonlinearity and the time-fractional Cahn-Hilliard equation. By using the Fourier transform concept, the generalized formula for the mild solution as well as the smoothing effects of resolvent operators are proved. For the IVP associated with the first one, by using the Orlicz space with the function $ Ξ(z)=e^{|z|^p}-1$ and some embeddings between it and the usual Lebesgue spaces, we prove that the solution …
In this paper we consider the minimization of the functional \[ J[u]:=\int_Ω|Δu|^2+χ_{\{u>0\}} \] in the admissible class of functions \[ \mathcal A:= \left\{u\in W^{2, 2}(Ω) {\mbox{ s.t. }} u-u_0\in W^{1,2}_0(Ω) \right\}. \] Here, $Ω$ is a smooth and bounded domain and $u_0\in W^{2,2}(Ω)$ is a given function defining the Navier type boundary condition. The scale invariance of the problem suggests that, at the singular points of the free boundary, quadratic growth of $u$ is expected. We prove that $u$ is quadratically nondegenerate at the singular free boundary points using a refinement of Whi…
In this paper we study the biharmonic operator perturbed by an inverse fourth-order potential. In particular, we consider the operator $A=Δ^2-V=Δ^2-c|x|^{-4}$ where $c$ is any constant such that $c<\left(\frac{N(N-4)}{4}\right)^2$. The semigroup generated by $-A$ in $L^2(\mathbb{R}^N)$, $N\geq5$, extrapolates to a bounded holomorphic $C_0$-semigroup on $L^p(\mathbb{R}^N)$ for $p\in [p^{'}_0,p_0]$ where $p_0=\frac{2N}{N-4}$ and $p_0^{'}$ is its dual exponent. Furthermore, we study the boundedness of the Riesz transform $ΔA^{-1/2}$ on $L^p(\mathbb{R}^N)$ for all $p\in(p_0^{'},2]$.
In this paper, we show existence of \textit{continuums} of positive solutions for non-local quasilinear problems with strongly-singular reaction term on a bounded domain in $\mathbb{R}^N$ with $N \geq 2$. We approached non-autonomous and non-local equations by applying the Bifurcation Theory to the corresponding $ε$-perturbed problems and using a comparison principle for $W_{\mathrm{loc}}^{1,p}(Ω)$-sub and supersolutions to obtain qualitative properties of the $ε$-\textit{continuum} limit. Moreover, this technique empowers us to study a strongly-singular and non-homogeneous Kirchhoff problem t…
In this paper we analyse a boundary value problem for the Laplace equation with a nonlinear non-autonomous transmission conditions on the boundary of a small inclusion of size $ε$. We show that the problem has solutions for $ε$ small enough and we investigate the dependence of a specific family of solutions upon $ε$. By adopting a functional analytic approach we prove that the map which takes $ε$ to (suitable restrictions of) the corresponding solution can be represented in terms of real analytic functions.
We study the regularity of the extremal solution of the semilinear biharmonic equation $βΔ^2 u-τΔu=\fracλ{(1-u)^2}$ on a ball $B \subset \R^N$, under Navier boundary conditions $u=Δu=0$ on $\partial B$, where $λ>0$ is a parameter, while $τ>0$, $β>0$ are fixed constants. It is known that there exists a $λ^{*}$ such that for $λ>λ^{*}$ there is no solution while for $λ<λ^{*}$ there is a branch of minimal solutions. Our main result asserts that the extremal solution $u^{*}$ is regular ($\sup_{B}u^{*}<1$) for $N\leq 8$ and $β, τ>0$ and it is singular ($\sup_{B}u^{*}=1$) for $N\geq 9$, $β>0$, and $τ…
We study the regularity of the extremal solution of the semilinear biharmonic equation $\bi u=\fλ{(1-u)^2}$, which models a simple Micro-Electromechanical System (MEMS) device on a ball $B\subset\IR^N$, under Dirichlet boundary conditions $u=\partial_νu=0$ on $\partial B$. We complete here the results of F.H. Lin and Y.S. Yang \cite{LY} regarding the identification of a "pull-in voltage" $\la^*>0$ such that a stable classical solution $u_\la$ with $0<u_\la<1$ exists for $\la\in (0,\la^*)$, while there is none of any kind when $\la>\la^*$. Our main result asserts that the extremal solution $u_{…
We study the regularity of the extremal solution of the semilinear biharmonic equation $\bi u=\fλ{(1-u)^2}$, which models a simple Micro-Electromechanical System (MEMS) device on a ball $B\subset\IR^N$, under Dirichlet boundary conditions $u=\partial_νu=0$ on $\partial B$. We complete here the results of F.H. Lin and Y.S. Yang \cite{LY} regarding the identification of a "pull-in voltage" $\la^*>0$ such that a stable classical solution $u_\la$ with $0<u_\la<1$ exists for $\la\in (0,\la^*)$, while there is none of any kind when $\la>\la^*$. Our main result asserts that the extremal solution $u_{…
The necessary and sufficient conditions for a regular positive entire solution $u$ of the biharmonic equation: \begin{equation} \label{0.1} -Δ^2 u=u^{-p} \;\; \mbox{in $\R^N \; (N \geq 3)$}, \;\; p>1 \end{equation} to be a radially symmetric solution are obtained via the moving plane method (MPM) of a system of equations. It is well-known that for any $a>0$, \eqref{0.1} admits a unique minimal positive entire radial solution ${\underline u}_a (r)$ and a family of non-minimal positive entire radial solutions $u_a (r)$ such that $u_a (0)={\underline u}_a (0)=a$ and $u_a (r) \geq {\underline u}_a…
By means of a penalization scheme due to del Pino and Felmer, we prove the existence of single-peaked solutions for a class of singularly perturbed quasilinear elliptic equations associated with functionals which lack of smoothness. We don't require neither uniqueness assumptions on the limiting autonomous equation nor monotonicity conditions on the nonlinearity. Compared with the semilinear case some difficulties arise and the study of concentration of the solutions needs a somewhat involved analysis in which the Pucci-Serrin variational identity plays an important role.
It has long been known, for the autonomous 2D Navier-Stokes equations with singular forcing, that there exist unique solutions which gain one derivative, globally. On the other hand, if the forcing term smooth enough, it is known that the solution gains two derivatives globally. In this paper, we explore classical techniques to show that if the force is sufficiently smooth, then the solution gains two derivatives globally. These methods break down when the force becomes singular. In this scenario, we use a Littlewood-Paley decomposition in Fourier space to show that a solutions gain two deriva…
Shear bands are narrow zones of intense shear observed during plastic deformations of metals at high strain rates. Because they often precede rupture, their study attracted attention as a mechanism of material failure. Here, we aim to reveal the onset of localization into shear bands using a simple model developed from viscoplasticity. We exploit the properties of scale invariance of the model to construct a family of self-similar focusing solutions that capture the nonlinear mechanism of shear band formation. The key step is to de-singularize a reduced system of singular ordinary differential…
We study evolution equations associated to time-dependent dissipative non-selfadjoint quadratic operators. We prove that the solution operators to these non-autonomous evolution equations are given by Fourier integral operators whose kernels are Gaussian tempered distributions associated to non-negative complex symplectic linear transformations, and we derive a generalized Mehler formula for their Weyl symbols. Some applications to the study of the propagation of Gabor singularities (characterizing the lack of Schwartz regularity) for the solutions to non-autonomous quadratic evolution equatio…
The existence of a pullback attractor is established for the singularly perturbed FitzHugh-Nagumo system defined on the entire space $R^n$ when external terms are unbounded in a phase space. The pullback asymptotic compactness of the system is proved by using uniform a priori estimates for far-field values of solutions. Although the limiting system has no global attractor, we show that the pullback attractors for the perturbed system with bounded external terms are uniformly bounded, and hence do not blow up as a small parameter approaches zero.
The paper studies homogenization problem for a non-autonomous parabolic equation with a large random rapidly oscillating potential in the case of one dimensional spatial variable. We show that if the potential is a statistically homogeneous rapidly oscillating function of both temporal and spatial variables then, under proper mixing assumptions, the limit equation is deterministic and the convergence in probability holds. To the contrary, for the potential having a microstructure only in one of these variables, the limit problem is stochastic and we only prove the convergence in law.
We study the well posedness of the nonlinear Schrödinger (NLS) equation with a point interaction and power nonlinearity in dimension two and three. Behind the autonomous interest of the problem, this is a model of the evolution of so called singular solutions that are well known in the analysis of semilinear elliptic equations. We show that the Cauchy problem for the NLS considered enjoys local existence and uniqueness of strong (operator domain) solutions, and that the solutions depend continuously from initial data. In dimension two well posedness holds for any power nonlinearity and global …
We classify entire positive singular solutions to a family of critical sixth order equations in the punctured space with a non-removable singularity at the origin. More precisely, we show that when the origin is a non-removable singularity, solutions are given by a singular radial factor times a periodic solution to a sixth order IVP with constant coefficients. On the technical level, we combine integral sliding methods and qualitative analysis of ODEs, based on a conservation of energy result, to perform a topological two-parameter shooting technique. We first use the integral representation …
The continuous dependence of solutions to certain (non-autonomous, partial, integro-differential-algebraic, evolutionary) equations on the coefficients is addressed. We give criteria that guarantee that convergence of the coefficients in the weak operator topology implies weak convergence of the respective solutions. We treat three examples: A homogenization problem for a Kelvin-Voigt model for elasticity, the discussion of continuous dependence of the coefficients for acoustic waves with impedance type boundary conditions and a singular perturbation problem for a mixed type equation. By means…
For autonomous Tonelli systems on $\R^n$, we develop an intrinsic proof of the existence of generalized characteristics using sup-convolutions. This approach, together with convexity estimates for the fundamental solution, leads to new results such as the global propagation of singularities along generalized characteristics.
In this paper we study maximal $L^p$-regularity for evolution equations with time-dependent operators $A$. We merely assume a measurable dependence on time. In the first part of the paper we present a new sufficient condition for the $L^p$-boundedness of a class of vector-valued singular integrals which does not rely on Hörmander conditions in the time variable. This is then used to develop an abstract operator-theoretic approach to maximal regularity. The results are applied to the case of $m$-th order elliptic operators $A$ with time and space-dependent coefficients. Here the highest order c…
In 1990, based on numerical and formal asymptotic analysis, Ori and Piran predicted the existence of self-similar spacetimes, called relativistic Larson-Penston solutions, that can be suitably flattened to obtain examples of spacetimes that dynamically form naked singularities from smooth initial data, and solve the radially symmetric Einstein-Euler system. Despite its importance, a rigorous proof of the existence of such spacetimes has remained elusive, in part due to the complications associated with the analysis across the so-called sonic hypersurface. We provide a rigorous mathematical pro…
