On the Cauchy problem for \(u_t= \Delta\log u\) in higher dimensions (Q1298131)

The authors consider the Cauchy problem \[ \begin{aligned} u_t=\Delta\log u, \quad& \text{in }\mathbb{R}^N \times[0,T),\\ u(x,0) =f(x),\quad & \text{in } \mathbb{R}^N, \end{aligned} \] where \(f\) is nonnegative and locally bounded. They give a necessary condition for a solution to exist up to a given time \(T\). The same condition turns out to be sufficient in case \(f\) is a radial function, but it may not be sufficient if \(f\) is not radial and \(N\geq 3\). The method used relies on a relation of the above problem to a nonlinear elliptic equation with the exponential nonlinearity.