Nonlinear diffusion equations on unbounded fractal domains (Q5933420)

The authors study the problem of existence and nonexistence of positive global in time solutions to the semilinear diffusion equation in the form \(\partial u/\partial t =\Delta u +u^p\) for \(p>1\), in certain unbounded domains (possibly fractal). The Laplacian \(\delta\) is defined as the generator of the semigroup associated with the corresponding heat kernel on which the author assumes a number of standard properties including Gaussian type bounds expressed in terms of the spectral dimension \(d_s\) and the Hausdorff dimension. The authors show that for \(1<p\leq 1+2/d_s\) all positive solutions blow up, while for \(p>1+2/d_s\) global positive solutions exist. The paper also studies regularity properties of solutions when they exist.