[go: up one dir, main page]
Scribd
Upload
84 views2 pages

PDE Assignment

This document outlines 7 problems related to Poisson's equation and the heat equation on Rn. Problem 1 involves solving the Poisson equation on R with fundamental solution -|x|/2 and considers conditions for bounded and decaying solutions. Problem 2 extends this to R2 with fundamental solution -log|x|/2π. Problem 3 considers the Poisson equation on Rn for n≥3 with fundamental solution 1/n(n-2)|x|2-n and proves uniqueness of decaying solutions. Problem 4 establishes a maximum principle on Rn for n≥3. Problem 5 relates averages over balls and spheres. Problem 6 reconstructs data from solutions to the 1D wave equation. Problem 7 proves a maximum principle for

Uploaded by

duyphat04081994
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
84 views2 pages

PDE Assignment

This document outlines 7 problems related to Poisson's equation and the heat equation on Rn. Problem 1 involves solving the Poisson equation on R with fundamental solution -|x|/2 and considers conditions for bounded and decaying solutions. Problem 2 extends this to R2 with fundamental solution -log|x|/2π. Problem 3 considers the Poisson equation on Rn for n≥3 with fundamental solution 1/n(n-2)|x|2-n and proves uniqueness of decaying solutions. Problem 4 establishes a maximum principle on Rn for n≥3. Problem 5 relates averages over balls and spheres. Problem 6 reconstructs data from solutions to the 1D wave equation. Problem 7 proves a maximum principle for

Uploaded by

duyphat04081994
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 2

Math 516: Assignment #1 (due: Fri., Sep.

29)

1. [Poisson on R] Let f ∈ Cc∞ (R), and consider the “Poisson” ODE problem

d2
− u(x) = f (x), x ∈ R. (1)
dx2
2
(a) Prove that Φ(x) := − 21 |x| satisfies − dx
d
2 Φ = δ in the sense of distributions – that
∞
is, for any φ ∈ Cc (R), ˆ
1
|x| φ00 (x) dx = φ(0).
R 2
(b) Verify directly that Φ ∗ f solves (1).
(c) Under what condition on f does (1) admit a bounded solution? How many?
(d) Under what condition on f does (1) admit a solution with u(x) → 0 as |x| → ∞?
How many?

2. [Poisson on R2 ] Let f ∈ Cc∞ (R2 ), and consider the Poisson problem

−∆u(x) = f (x), x ∈ R2 . (2)


1
Recall the fundamental solution for the Laplacian on R2 is Φ(x) = − 2π log |x|.

(a) Find the first two terms of an asymptotic expansion of Φ ∗ f as |x| → ∞.


(b) Under what condition on f does (2) admit a bounded solution? Prove that
under this condition, there is a unique solution u ∈ C 2 (R2 ) which decays:
lim|x|→∞ u(x) = 0.

3. [Poisson on Rn≥3 ] Let n ≥ 3, f ∈ Cc∞ (Rn ), and consider the Poisson problem

−∆u(x) = f (x), x ∈ Rn . (3)


1
Recall the fundamental solution for the Laplacian on Rn is Φ(x) = n(n−2)α(n) |x|2−n .
Prove that there is a unique solution u ∈ C 2 (Rn ) which decays: lim|x|→∞ u(x) = 0.

4. [A maximum principle for Laplace on Rn ] Suppose n ≥ 3. Show that if u ∈


C 2 (Rn ), with lim|x|→∞ u(x) = 0, satisfies −∆u(x) = f (x), with f ∈ Cc∞ (Rn ) and
f (x) ≥ 0, then either u(x) > 0 for all x ∈ Rn , or else u(x) ≡ 0.

5. [Averages over balls and spheres] Fix x ∈ Rn , and show that if u ∈ C 1 (B(x, R)),
and for each r ∈ (0, R),
u(x) = u(y) dy,
B(x,r)

then for each r ∈ (0, R),


u(x) = u(y) dS(y).
∂B(x,r)

1
6. [Reconstruction of data for wave equation on R] Consider the Cauchy problem
for the wave equation on R:

utt = uxx , x ∈ R, t > 0
u(x, 0) = 0, ut (x, 0) = v0 (x)

with v0 ∈ Cc∞ (R).

(a) Show that v0 is not uniquely determined by measuring the solution at a single
point in space, { u(0, t) | t ≥ 0 }. What part of v0 can be recovered from this?
(b) Show that v0 is uniquely determined by measuring the solution at two points in
space.

7. [Maximum principle for heat on Rn – c.f. Evans pp 57-58]


In class we (will have) stated the maximum principle for the heat equation on bounded
domains. Prove the following version of the weak maximum principle on Rn : a solution
u ∈ C12 (Rn × (0, T ]) ∩ C(Rn × [0, T ]) solving the heat equation in Rn × (0, T ) and
satisfying the growth estimate
2
u(x, t) ≤ Aea|x| , x ∈ Rn , t ∈ [0, T ]

for some A > 0, a > 0, satisfies

sup u = sup u(x, 0).


Rn ×[0,T ] Rn

(Hint: for some constants (to be chosen) T1 , , µ, consider v(x, t) := u(x, t)−µ(T +−
|x|2
t)−n/2 e 4(T1 +−t) . Verify that this function also satisfies the heat equation, and apply
the maximum principle on a cylinder B(0, R) × [0, T1 ]. In the end you will take µ to
0.)
Remark: In fact, without a growth condition like this, both the maximum principle
and uniqueness fail in Rn . There are non-zero solutions of the heat equation on Rn
with zero initial data (but these grow very fast as |x| → ∞ – see the book of F. John,
Ch. 7.

Sep. 25, 2017

You might also like