Optimal control of fractional semilinear PDEs

In this paper we consider the optimal control of semilinear fractional PDEs with both spectral and integral fractional diffusion operators of order $2s$ with $s \in (0,1)$. We first prove the boundedness of solutions to both semilinear fractional PDEs under minimal regularity assumptions on domain and data. We next introduce an optimal growth condition on the nonlinearity to show the Lipschitz continuity of the solution map for the semilinear elliptic equations with respect to the data. We further apply our ideas to show existence of solutions to optimal control problems with semilinear fractional equations as constraints. Under the standard assumptions on the nonlinearity (twice continuously differentiable) we derive the first and second order optimality conditions

Optimal Boundary Control of Hyperbolic Equations with Pointwise State Constraints

In this paper we consider dynamic optimization problems for hyperbolic systems with boundary controls and pointwise state constraints. In contrast to parabolic dynamics, such systems have not been sufficiently studied in the literature. The reason is the lack of regularity in the case of hyperbolic dynamics. We present necessary optimality conditions for both Neumann and Dirichlet boundary control problems and discuss differences and relationships between them

Neumann Boundary Control of Hyperbolic Equations with Pointwise State Constraints

We consider optimal control problems for hyperbolic systems with controls in Neumann boundary conditions with pointwise (hard) constraints on control and state functions. Focusing on hyperbolic dynamics governed by the multidimensional wave equation with a nonlinear term, we derive new necessary optimality conditions in the pointwise form of the Pontryagin Maximum Principle for the state-constrained problem under consideration. Our approach is based on modern methods of variational analysis that allows us to obtain refined necessary optimality conditions with no convexity assumptions on integrands in the minimizing cost functional

Optimal Control of the Thermistor Problem in Three Spatial Dimensions

This paper is concerned with the state-constrained optimal control of the three-dimensional thermistor problem, a fully quasilinear coupled system of a parabolic and elliptic PDE with mixed boundary conditions. This system models the heating of a conducting material by means of direct current. Local existence, uniqueness and continuity for the state system are derived by employing maximal parabolic regularity in the fundamental theorem of Pr\"uss. Global solutions are addressed, which includes analysis of the linearized state system via maximal parabolic regularity, and existence of optimal controls is shown if the temperature gradient is under control. The adjoint system involving measures is investigated using a duality argument. These results allow to derive first-order necessary conditions for the optimal control problem in form of a qualified optimality system. The theoretical findings are illustrated by numerical results

Error estimates for the numerical approximation of Dirichlet boundary control for semilinear elliptic equations

We study the numerical approximation of boundary optimal control problems governed by semilinear elliptic partial differential equations with pointwise constraints on the control. The control is the trace of the state on the boundary of the domain, which is assumed to be a convex, polygonal, open set in R2. Piecewise linear finite elements are used to approximate the control as well as the state. We prove that the error estimates are of order O(h1−1/p) for some p > 2, which is consistent with the W1−1/p,p(Γ)-regularity of the optimal control

Optimal sparse boundary control for a semilinear parabolic equation with mixed control-state constraints

A problem of sparse optimal boundary control for a semilinear parabolic partial differential equation is considered, where pointwise bounds on the control and mixed pointwise control-state constraints are given. A standard quadratic objective functional is to be minimized that includes a Tikhonov regularization term and the L1-norm of the control accounting for the sparsity. Applying a recent linearization theorem, we derive first-order necessary optimality conditions in terms of a variational inequality under linearized mixed control state constraints. Based on this preliminary result, a Lagrange multiplier rule with bounded and measurable multipliers is derived and sparsity results on the optimal control are demonstrated.The first author was partially supported by the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad under project MTM2017-83185-P. The second author was supported by the collaborative research center SFB 910, TU Berlin, project B6

Second order optimality conditions and their role in PDE control

If f : Rn R is twice continuously differentiable, f’(u) = 0 and f’’(u) is positive definite, then u is a local minimizer of f. This paper surveys the extension of this well known second order suffcient optimality condition to the case f : U R, where U is an infinite-dimensional linear normed space. The reader will be guided from the case of finite-dimensions via a brief discussion of the calculus of variations and the optimal control of ordinary differential equations to the control of nonlinear partial differential equations, where U is a function space. In particular, the following questions will be addressed: Is the extension to infinite dimensions straightforward or will unexpected difficulties occur? How second order sufficient optimality conditions must be modified, if simple inequality constraints are imposed on u? Why do we need second order conditions and how can they be applied? If they are important, are we able to check if they are fulfilled order sufficient optimality condition to the case f : U R, where U is an infinite-dimensional linear normed space. The reader will be guided from the case of finite-dimensions via a brief discussion of the calculus of variations and the optimal control of ordinary differential equations to the control of nonlinear partial differential equations, where U is a function space. In particular, the following questions will be addressed: Is the extension to infinite dimensions straightforward or will unexpected difficulties occur? How second order sufficient optimality conditions must be modified, if simple inequality constraints are imposed on u? Why do we need second order conditions and how can they be applied? If they are important, are we able to check if they are fulfilled? It turns out that infinite dimensions cause new difficulties that do not occur in finite dimensions. We will be faced with the surprising fact that the space, where f’’(u) exists can be useless to ensure positive definiteness of the quadratic form v f’’(u)v2. In this context, the famous two-norm discrepancy, its consequences, and techniques for overcoming this difficulty are explained. To keep the presentation simple, the theory is developed for problems in function spaces with simple box constraints of the form a = u = ß. The theory of second order conditions in the control of partial differential equations is presented exemplarily for the nonlinear heat equation. Different types of critical cones are introduced, where the positivity of f’’(u) must be required. Their form depends on whether a so-called Tikhonov regularization term is part of the functional f or not. In this context, the paper contains also new results that lead to quadratic growth conditions in the strong sense. As a first application of second-order sufficient conditions, the stability of optimal solutions with respect to perturbations of the data of the control problem is discussed. Second, their use in analyzing the discretization of control problems by finite elements is studied. A survey on further related topics, open questions, and relevant literature concludes the paper.The first author was partially supported by the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad under project MTM2011-22711, the second author by DFG in the framework of the Collaborative Research Center SFB 910, project B6

Regularity of multipliers and optimal solutions in second-order optimality conditions for semilinear parabolic optimal control problems

A class of optimal control problems governed by semilinear parabolic equations with mixed pointwise are considered. We give some criteria under which Lagrange multipliers belong to $L^p$-spaces. We then establish first and second-order optimality conditions of KKT-type for the problem. Moreover, we show that if the initial value is good enough and boundary $\partial\Omega$ has a property of positive geometric density, then multipliers and optimal solutions are H\"{o}lder continuous