We consider the Cauchy problem for the porous medium equation in one space dimension, with initial data which are locally integrable. We measure the asymptotic behaviour of the initial data near infinity in an integral sense and relate this to the pointwise rate of growth or decay of solution for large time. The emphasis is on a novel comparison method wherein the initial data are rearranged on the ×-axis to form a sequence of Dirac δ-masses. By using the explicit solution in the latter case, we derive upper and lower bounds for the solution to the original problem by comparisons.

Estimates on the gradient of solutions to the Dirichlet problem for a semilinear elliptic equation are given when the nonlinearity in the equation is quadratic with respect to the gradient of the solution. These estimates extend results of F. Tomi to less smooth boundary data and results of the author to the full quadratic growth.

Decay estimates for the energy are derived for the initial boundary value problem of the wave equation with a degenerate dissipative term:

where Ω is a bounded domain in Rn, a(×) is a nonnegative function such that a1 ∊Lp(Ω) for some p > 0 and f is a function tending to 0 rapidly as t → ∞

We study the possibility of perturbing a matrix A by a diagonal matrix so that an eigenvalue problem with leading matrix A has specifiedeigenvalues when A is replaced by A+D. The particular cases presented are the one-parameter generalized eigenvalue problem (A× = λB μ×, a two-parameter eigenvalue problem (A + λB + μC)× = 0, a linked system ofsuch two-parameter problems and a quadratic eigenvalue problem (A + λB + λ2C)× = 0. The work extends results of Hadeler for the classical problem A× = λ×.

In this article, we study the functional Where Ω ⊂ ĝn is a bounded open set and u: Ω ×(0, T)→ ĝm and when F: Rnm →R fails to be quasiconvex. We show that with respect to strong convergence of ∂u/∂t and weak convergence of ∇×u, the above functional behaves as where QF is the lower quasiconvex envelope of F.

The solutions of the differential equation Lny + p(×)y = 0, where Ln is a disconjugate operator, are classified according to their behaviour as × →∞. The solution space is decomposed into disjoint sets. We study the dominance properties of the solutions which belong to different sets.

Let K be the class of all operators T in a Banach space × which have the property that, for any pair of integers (n, k) with n ≧2 and l≦ k ≦ n – l, there exists a constant Cnk such that

for all fϵdom Tn. If T ϵ K, then the best possible constant for the norm inequality (*) is the smallest non-negative value of the constant Cnk in (*). Any operator T which is the adjoint of a maximal symmetric operator in a Hilbert space belongs to the class K, as was shown by Ljubič [Izv. Akad. Nauk SSSR, Ser. Mat. 24 (1960), 825–864].

This article is concerned with the computation of the best possible constant for the differentiation operator Tf=if′ on the maximal domain in L2(0, ∞). Three algorithms, proposed by Ljubič [ibid.] and Kupcov [Trudy Mat. Inst. Steklov. 138 (1975)], are discussed and related to one another, asymptotic expressions (valid for large n) and numerical values of the best possible constant are presented, and the extremals (i.e. the elements / ∈ dom Tn for which equality holds in (*) with the best possible constant) are given.

We discuss the nonlinear eigenvalue problem

with r(–×) = –r(×) and r'≧0.

For ε = h =0, the solution to Problem P is wellknown, and every solution, except u = 0 and u =1, is unstable with respect to the corresponding parabolic problem.

Littlewood showed that the forced Van der Pol oscillator with 0<b<⅔ and k large normally has subharmonic solutions of order 2n + l where n ≅ O([⅔−b]k). Numerical experiments suggest that n ≅ (⅔ –b)k/3 as k →∞. A refinement of Littlewood's calculation is given which leads to this result.

General convergence theorems are established for the lower part of the intermediate operator spectra arising in lower bound methods of Aronszajn type.Convergence of the T*T method is considered in detail, as are constructions that allow perturbations that are nonclosable in the underlying Hilbert space. Problems with essential spectra are admitted, as is the use of infinite rank projections capable of displacing essential spectra. These last features are necessary for a theory applicable to Schrodinger operators corresponding to atomic systems.

In 1966, J. M. Howie characterised the transformations of an arbitrary set that can be written as a product (under composition) of idempotent transformations of the same set. In 1967, J. A. Erdos considered the analogous problem for linear transformations of a finite-dimensional vector space and in 1983, R. J. Dawlings investigated the corresponding idea for bounded operators on a separable Hilbert space. In this paper we study the case of arbitrary vector spaces.

We determine which subvarieties of the class of MS-algebras enjoy the amalgamation property, the embedding property, the strong amalgamation property, or the special amalgamation property.

We obtain lower bounds for the number of common systems of distinct representatives of two families of sets and the number of symmetric chain decompositions of certain ranked partially ordered sets.

We obtain the best constants for multipoint extensions of the Rayleigh–Ritz inequality, and use our results to find good upper bounds for the constants involved in the standard spline approximation and interpolation error bound theory.

Let S11× V1 be a direct product of a cyclic monoid S11with S1 not a group, and a semigroup V1 with an adjoined identity. We prove thatboth the lattice of congruences on (S11 × V1)/{(1,1)} and the lattice of congruences on (S11 × V1) are neither lower semimodular nor uppersemimodular. We then prove that the lattice of congruences on a free finitely generated commutative semigroup with more than one generator is neither lower semimodular nor upper semimodular.