Well-Posed Initial-Boundary Evolution in General Relativity

Maximally dissipative boundary conditions are applied to the initial-boundary value problem for Einstein's equations in harmonic coordinates to show that it is well-posed for homogeneous boundary data and for boundary data that is small in a linearized sense. The method is implemented as a nonlinear evolution code which satisfies convergence tests in the nonlinear regime and is robustly stable in the weak field regime. A linearized version has been stably matched to a characteristic code to compute the gravitational waveform radiated to infinity.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figures; added another convergence plot to Fig. 2 + minor change

The Newtonian Limit for Asymptotically Flat Solutions of the Vlasov-Einstein System

It is shown that there exist families of asymptotically flat solutions of the Einstein equations coupled to the Vlasov equation describing a collisionless gas which have a Newtonian limit. These are sufficiently general to confirm that for this matter model as many families of this type exist as would be expected on the basis of physical intuition. A central role in the proof is played by energy estimates in unweighted Sobolev spaces for a wave equation satisfied by the second fundamental form of a maximal foliation.Comment: 24 pages, plain TE

Global classical solutions for partially dissipative hyperbolic system of balance laws

This work is concerned with ($N$-component) hyperbolic system of balance laws in arbitrary space dimensions. Under entropy dissipative assumption and the Shizuta-Kawashima algebraic condition, a general theory on the well-posedness of classical solutions in the framework of Chemin-Lerner's spaces with critical regularity is established. To do this, we first explore the functional space theory and develop an elementary fact that indicates the relation between homogeneous and inhomogeneous Chemin-Lerner's spaces. Then this fact allows to prove the local well-posedness for general data and global well-posedness for small data by using the Fourier frequency-localization argument. Finally, we apply the new existence theory to a specific fluid model-the compressible Euler equations with damping, and obtain the corresponding results in critical spaces.Comment: 39 page

An existence theorem in the calculus of variations based on Sobolev's imbedding theorems

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/46175/1/205_2004_Article_BF00266572.pd

The Nonlinear Future-Stability of the FLRW Family of Solutions to the Euler-Einstein System with a Positive Cosmological Constant

In this article, we study small perturbations of the family of Friedmann-Lema\^itre-Robertson-Walker cosmological background solutions to the 1 + 3 dimensional Euler-Einstein system with a positive cosmological constant. These background solutions describe an initially uniform quiet fluid of positive energy density evolving in a spacetime undergoing accelerated expansion. Our nonlinear analysis shows that under the equation of state pressure = c_s^2 * energy density, with 0 < c_s^2 < 1/3, the background solutions are globally future-stable. In particular, we prove that the perturbed spacetime solutions, which have the topological structure [0,infty) x T^3, are future causally geodesically complete. These results are extensions of previous results derived by the author in a collaboration with I. Rodnianski, in which the fluid was assumed to be irrotational. Our novel analysis of a fluid with non-zero vorticity is based on the use of suitably-defined energy currents.Comment: Accepted for publication in Selecta Mathematica, 78 pages. arXiv admin note: significant text overlap with arXiv:0911.550

Multidimensional Conservation Laws: Overview, Problems, and Perspective

Some of recent important developments are overviewed, several longstanding open problems are discussed, and a perspective is presented for the mathematical theory of multidimensional conservation laws. Some basic features and phenomena of multidimensional hyperbolic conservation laws are revealed, and some samples of multidimensional systems/models and related important problems are presented and analyzed with emphasis on the prototypes that have been solved or may be expected to be solved rigorously at least for some cases. In particular, multidimensional steady supersonic problems and transonic problems, shock reflection-diffraction problems, and related effective nonlinear approaches are analyzed. A theory of divergence-measure vector fields and related analytical frameworks for the analysis of entropy solutions are discussed.Comment: 43 pages, 3 figure

Entropy Stable Finite Volume Approximations for Ideal Magnetohydrodynamics

This article serves as a summary outlining the mathematical entropy analysis of the ideal magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equations. We select the ideal MHD equations as they are particularly useful for mathematically modeling a wide variety of magnetized fluids. In order to be self-contained we first motivate the physical properties of a magnetic fluid and how it should behave under the laws of thermodynamics. Next, we introduce a mathematical model built from hyperbolic partial differential equations (PDEs) that translate physical laws into mathematical equations. After an overview of the continuous analysis, we thoroughly describe the derivation of a numerical approximation of the ideal MHD system that remains consistent to the continuous thermodynamic principles. The derivation of the method and the theorems contained within serve as the bulk of the review article. We demonstrate that the derived numerical approximation retains the correct entropic properties of the continuous model and show its applicability to a variety of standard numerical test cases for MHD schemes. We close with our conclusions and a brief discussion on future work in the area of entropy consistent numerical methods and the modeling of plasmas