Robust error estimates in weak norms for advection dominated transport problems with rough data

We consider mixing problems in the form of transient convection--diffusion equations with a velocity vector field with multiscale character and rough data. We assume that the velocity field has two scales, a coarse scale with slow spatial variation, which is responsible for advective transport and a fine scale with small amplitude that contributes to the mixing. For this problem we consider the estimation of filtered error quantities for solutions computed using a finite element method with symmetric stabilization. A posteriori error estimates and a priori error estimates are derived using the multiscale decomposition of the advective velocity to improve stability. All estimates are independent both of the P\'eclet number and of the regularity of the exact solution

Bifurcations of piecewise smooth flows:perspectives, methodologies and open problems

In this paper, the theory of bifurcations in piecewise smooth flows is critically surveyed. The focus is on results that hold in arbitrarily (but finitely) many dimensions, highlighting significant areas where a detailed understanding is presently lacking. The clearest results to date concern equilibria undergoing bifurcations at switching boundaries, and limit cycles undergoing grazing and sliding bifurcations. After discussing fundamental concepts, such as topological equivalence of two piecewise smooth systems, discontinuity-induced bifurcations are defined for equilibria and limit cycles. Conditions for equilibria to exist in n-dimensions are given, followed by the conditions under which they generically undergo codimension-one bifurcations. The extent of knowledge of their unfoldings is also summarized. Codimension-one bifurcations of limit cycles and boundary-intersection crossing are described together with techniques for their classification. Codimension-two bifurcations are discussed with suggestions for further study

Book of Abstracts

USPCAPESFAPESPCNPqINCTMatICMC Summer Meeting on Differentail Equations.\ud São Carlos, Brasil. 3-7 february 2014

Hamilton-Jacobi equations on networks as limits of singularly perturbed problems in optimal control: dimension reduction

We consider a family of open star-shaped domains made of a finite number of non intersecting semi-infinite strips of small thickness and of a central region whose diameter is of the same order of thickness, that may be called the junction. When the thickness tends to 0, the domains tend to a union of half-lines sharing an endpoint. This set is termed "network". We study infinite horizon optimal control problems in which the state is constrained to remain in the star-shaped domains. In the above mentioned strips the running cost may have a fast variation w.r.t. the transverse coordinate. When the thickness tends to 0 we prove that the value function tends to the solution of a Hamilton-Jacobi equation on the network, which may also be related to an optimal control problem. One difficulty is to find the transmission condition at the junction node in the limit problem. For passing to the limit, we use the method of the perturbed test-functions of Evans, which requires constructing suitable correctors. This is another difficulty since the domain is unbounded

The ground state of a Gross–Pitaevskii energy with general potential in the Thomas–Fermi limit

We study the ground state which minimizes a Gross–Pitaevskii energy with general non-radial trapping potential, under the unit mass constraint, in the Thomas–Fermi limit where a small parameter tends to 0. This ground state plays an important role in the mathematical treatment of recent experiments on the phenomenon of Bose–Einstein condensation, and in the study of various types of solutions of nonhomogeneous defocusing nonlinear Schrodinger equations. Many of these applications require delicate estimates for the behavior of the ground state near the boundary of the condensate, as the singular parameter tends to zero, in the vicinity of which the ground state has irregular behavior in the form of a steep corner layer. In particular, the role of this layer is important in order to detect the presence of vortices in the small density region of the condensate, understand the superfluid flow around an obstacle, and also has a leading order contribution in the energy. In contrast to previous approaches, we utilize a perturbation argument to go beyond the classical Thomas–Fermi approximation and accurately approximate the layer by the Hastings–McLeod solution of the Painleve–II equation. This settles an open problem, answered very recently only for the special case of the model harmonic potential. In fact, we even improve upon previous results that relied heavily on the radial symmetry of the potential trap. Moreover, we show that the ground state has the maximal regularity available, namely it remains uniformly bounded in the 1/2-Holder norm, which is the exact Holder regularity of the singular limit profile, as the singular parameter tends to zero. Our study is highly motivated by an interesting open problem posed recently by Aftalion, Jerrard, and Royo-Letelier, and an open question of Gallo and Pelinovsky, concerning the removal of the radial symmetry assumption from the potential trap

Drift-diffusion models for innovative semiconductor devices and their numerical solution

We present charge transport models for novel semiconductor devices which may include ionic species as well as their thermodynamically consistent finite volume discretization

Geometric blow-up of a dynamic Turing instability in the Swift-Hohenberg equation

We present a rigorous analysis of the slow passage through a Turing bifurcation in the Swift-Hohenberg equation using a novel approach based on geometric blow-up. We show that the formally derived multiple scales ansatz which is known from classical modulation theory can be adapted for use in the fast-slow setting, by reformulating it as a blow-up transformation. This leads to dynamically simpler modulation equations posed in the blown-up space, via a formal procedure which directly extends the established approach to the time-dependent setting. The modulation equations take the form of non-autonomous Ginzburg-Landau equations, which can be analysed within the blow-up. The asymptotics of solutions in weighted Sobelev spaces are given in two different cases: (i) A symmetric case featuring a delayed loss of stability, and (ii) A second case in which the symmetry is broken by a source term. In order to characterise the dynamics of the Swift-Hohenberg equation itself we derive rigorous estimates on the error of the dynamic modulation approximation. These estimates are obtained by bounding weak solutions to an evolution equation for the error which is also posed in the blown-up space. Using the error estimates obtained, we are able to infer the asymptotics of a large class of solutions to the dynamic Swift-Hohenberg equation. We provide rigorous asymptotics for solutions in both cases (i) and (ii). We also prove the existence of the delayed loss of stability in the symmetric case (i), and provide a lower bound for the delay time.Comment: 69 pages. A notational misprint in equation (17) has been correcte