
334 Exact Solutions and Invariant Subspaces
For existence, uniqueness, and regularity for the odd-order PDEs, such as KdV, KP, and
ZaK-type equations, see [381, 69, 179] and references therein.
§6.4.We follow [234]. Example 6.52 was used in [220, 232].
§6.5.The origin of fully nonlinear M-A equations dates back to Monge’s paper [427] in
1781, where Monge proposed a civil-engineering problem of moving a mass of earth from one
configuration to another in the most economical way. This problem has been further studied
by Appel [15] and Kantorovich [313, 314]; see references and a survey in [186].
The parabolic M-A equation associated with (6.113),
−u
t
detD
2
u = f in Q
T
= × (0, T ),
where ⊂ IR
N
is a bounded smooth domain, was first introduced in [359]; see recent related
references in [274] and more general models like that in [516]. Note the pioneering paper by
Hamilton [278] on the evolution of a metric in direction of its Ricci curvature. Conditions of
the global unique solvability of the M-A equation associated with (6.119),
u
t
= (detD
2
u)
1
N
+ g in Q
T
,
were obtained by Ivochkina and Ladyzhenskaya [303]. This model corresponds to special
curvature flows. Potential properties of Hessian operators are described in [561]. Parabolic
M-A equations as gradient flows, and the related questions of the asymptotic behavior of
solutions, were studied, e.g., in [123, 516], where further references concerning various types
of Gaussian flows can be found. The classical Gauss curvature flow describes the deformation
of a convex compact surface % : z = u(x, y, t) in IR
3
by its Gauss curvature and is governed
by the PDE
u
t
=
detD
2
u
(1+|∇u|
2
)
3/2
, (6.203)
which is uniformly parabolic on strictly convex solutions. Singularity formation phenomena
for (6.203) appear if the initial surface % has flat sides, where the curvature becomes zero
and the equation degenerate. This leads to an FBP for (6.203) with the unknown domain of
singularity, {(x, y) : u(x, y, t ) = 0}, and specific regularity properties; see [143, 144] and
references therein. Alternatively, finite-time formation of non-smooth free boundaries with
flat parts is a typical phenomenon for blow-up solutions of the reaction-diffusion PDEs (see
the first equation in (6.207) below) via extended semigroup theory. In 1D, optimal regularity
of such C
1,1
-interfaces is well understood [226, Ch. 5]. For N > 1, the regularity problem
remains essentially
OPEN; see some estimates and examples in [226, p. 151]. As a formal
extension, note that a nontrivial (u(x, t ) ≡ 0) proper convex solution exists for such PDEs
with an arbitrarily strong (as u → 0) absorption term, e.g.,
u
t
=
detD
2
u
(1+|∇u|
2
)
3/2
− e
1/u
,
where a similar FBP occurs. Therefore, the parabolic operator of the Gauss curvature flow
is extremely powerful, in the sense that it prevents a complete extinction (i.e., u(x, t) ≡ 0
for arbitrarily small t > 0; this can happen for many other parabolic PDEs). For any initial
data with flat sides, {(x, y) : u
0
(x, y) = 0}=∅, this proper solution of the FBP can be
constructed by regular approximations of the equations and initial data by replacing e
1/u
→
min{
u
ε
, e
1/u
}, with ε>0, (a uniformly Lipschitz continuous approximation), and u
0
→ u
0
+
ε. Uniform aprioriestimates for {u
ε
} are obtained by local (near the interface) comparison
with 1D TW solutions or other radial sub- and super-solutions, [226, Ch. 7].
Concerning other nonlinearities, the elliptic M-A equation
(det D
2
u)
1
N+2
=−
1
u
, u < 0, D
2
u > 0in, u = 0on∂, (6.204)
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