Abstract Non Linear Wave Equations Lectures From A Project Mathematical Problems Of Quantum Dynamics Zentrum Fur Interdisziplinare Forschung University Of Bielefeld

This is the second volume in the University Lecture Series, designed to make more widely available some of the outstanding lectures presented in various institutions around the country. Each year at Lehigh University, a distinguished mathematical scientist presents the Pitcher Lectures in the Mathematical Sciences. This volume contains the Pitcher lectures presented by Fritz John in April 1989. The lectures deal with existence in the large of solutions of initial value problems for nonlinear hyperbolic partial differential equations. As is typical with nonlinear problems, there are many results and few general conclusions in this extensive subject, so the author restricts himself to a small portion of the field, in which it is possible to discern some general patterns. Presenting an exposition of recent research in this area, the author examines the way in which solutions can, even with small and very smooth initial data, ``blow up'' after a finite time. For various types of quasi-linear equations, this time depends strongly on the number of dimensions and the ``size'' of the data. Of particular interest is the formation of singularities for nonlinear wave equations in three space dimensions.

Presents an account of the basic facts concerning the linear wave equation and the methods from harmonic analysis that are necessary when studying nonlinear hyperbolic differential equations. This book examines quasilinear equations with small data where the Klainerman-Sobolev inequalities and weighted space-time estimates are introduced.

This monograph deals with recent advances in the study of the long-time asymptotics of large solutions to critical nonlinear dispersive equations. The first part of the monograph describes, in the context of the energy critical wave equation, the "concentration-compactness/rigidity theorem method" introduced by C. Kenig and F. Merle. This approach has become the canonical method for the study of the "global regularity and well-posedness" conjecture (defocusing case) and the "ground-state" conjecture (focusing case) in critical dispersive problems. The second part of the monograph describes the "channel of energy" method, introduced by T. Duyckaerts, C. Kenig, and F. Merle, to study soliton resolution for nonlinear wave equations. This culminates in a presentation of the proof of the soliton resolution conjecture, for the three-dimensional radial focusing energy critical wave equation. It is the intent that the results described in this book will be a model for what to strive for in the study of other nonlinear dispersive equations. A co-publication of the AMS and CBMS.

This book focuses on nonlinear wave equations, which are of considerable significance from both physical and theoretical perspectives. It also presents complete results on the lower bound estimates of lifespan (including the global existence), which are established for classical solutions to the Cauchy problem of nonlinear wave equations with small initial data in all possible space dimensions and with all possible integer powers of nonlinear terms. Further, the book proposes the global iteration method, which offers a unified and straightforward approach for treating these kinds of problems. Purely based on the properties of solut ions to the corresponding linear problems, the method simply applies the contraction mapping principle.

This book gathers the revised lecture notes from a seminar course offered at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro in 1986, then in Tokyo in 1987. An additional chapter has been added to reflect more recent advances in the field.