Critical Keller-Segel meets Burgers on S1{\mathbb S}^1: large-time smooth solutions

We show that solutions to the parabolic-elliptic Keller-Segel system on ${\mathbb S}^1$ with critical fractional diffusion $(-\Delta)^\frac{1}{2}$ remain smooth for any initial data and any positive time. This disproves, at least in the periodic setting, the large-data-blowup conjecture by Bournaveas and Calvez. As a tool, we show smoothness of solutions to a modified critical Burgers equation via a generalization of the method of moduli of continuity by Kiselev, Nazarov and Shterenberg. over a setting where the considered equation has no scaling. This auxiliary result may be interesting by itself. Finally, we study the asymptotic behavior of global solutions, improving the existing results.Comment: 17 page

Regularity and blow up for active scalars

We review some recent results for a class of fluid mechanics equations called active scalars, with fractional dissipation. Our main examples are the surface quasi-geostrophic equation, the Burgers equation, and the Cordoba-Cordoba-Fontelos model. We discuss nonlocal maximum principle methods which allow to prove existence of global regular solutions for the critical dissipation. We also recall what is known about the possibility of finite time blow up in the supercritical regime.Comment: 33 page

Global well-posedness for a slightly supercritical surface quasi-geostrophic equation

We use a nonlocal maximum principle to prove the global existence of smooth solutions for a slightly supercritical surface quasi-geostrophic equation. By this we mean that the velocity field $u$ is obtained from the active scalar $\theta$ by a Fourier multiplier with symbol $i k^\perp |k|^{-1} m(k|)$, where $m$ is a smooth increasing function that grows slower than $\log \log |k|$ as $|k|\rightarrow \infty$.Comment: 11 pages, second version with slightly stronger resul

Nonlocal maximum principles for active scalars

Active scalars appear in many problems of fluid dynamics. The most common examples of active scalar equations are 2D Euler, Burgers, and 2D surface quasi-geostrophic equations. Many questions about regularity and properties of solutions of these equations remain open. We develop the idea of nonlocal maximum principle, formulating a more general criterion and providing new applications. The most interesting application is finite time regularization of weak solutions in the supercritical regime.Comment: 19 page

A Bregman forward-backward linesearch algorithm for nonconvex composite optimization: superlinear convergence to nonisolated local minima

We introduce Bella, a locally superlinearly convergent Bregman forward backward splitting method for minimizing the sum of two nonconvex functions, one of which satisfying a relative smoothness condition and the other one possibly nonsmooth. A key tool of our methodology is the Bregman forward-backward envelope (BFBE), an exact and continuous penalty function with favorable first- and second-order properties, and enjoying a nonlinear error bound when the objective function satisfies a Lojasiewicz-type property. The proposed algorithm is of linesearch type over the BFBE along candidate update directions, and converges subsequentially to stationary points, globally under a KL condition, and owing to the given nonlinear error bound can attain superlinear convergence rates even when the limit point is a nonisolated minimum, provided the directions are suitably selected

Stability of strings dual to flux tubes between static quarks in N=4 SYM

Computing heavy quark-antiquark potentials within the AdS/CFT correspondence often leads to behaviors that differ from what one expects on general physical grounds and field-theory considerations. To isolate the configurations of physical interest, it is of utmost importance to examine the stability of the string solutions dual to the flux tubes between the quark and antiquark. Here, we formulate and prove several general statements concerning the perturbative stability of such string solutions, relevant for static quark-antiquark pairs in a general class of backgrounds, and we apply the results to N=4 SYM at finite temperature and at generic points of the Coulomb branch. In all cases, the problematic regions are found to be unstable and hence physically irrelevant.Comment: 43 pages, 18 figures; v3: typos correcte