Finite-dimensional attractors for the quasi-linear strongly-damped wave equation (Q1029149)

The paper is concerned with the quasilinear strongly damped wave equation \[ \partial^2_t u-\gamma\partial _t\Delta _x u-\Delta_xu+f(u) =\nabla_x\cdot\varphi'(\nabla_x u)+g \] in a smooth bounded domain \(\Omega\subset\mathbb{R}^3\) with Dirichlet boundary condition \(u|_{\partial\Omega}=0\) and prescribed initial condition \((u(0),\partial_t u(0))\). Here \(\gamma>0\) is a positive constant and \(g\in L^2(\Omega)\) an external force. The nonlinearities \(f\in C^2(\mathbb{R})\), \(\varphi\in C^2(\mathbb{R}^3)\) satisfy \(f'(s)\sim|s|^q\) for some \(q>0\) and \(\varphi''(\eta)\sim|\eta|^{p-1}\) for some \(p\in[1,5)\). The authors prove the existence of a unique weak solution such that \((u(t),\partial_t u(t))\) lies in the energy space \((W^{1,p+1}(\Omega)\cap L^{q+2}(\Omega))\times L^2(\Omega)\). If the initial conditions satisfy appropriate regularity conditions then the weak solution is in fact a strong solution. In addition to solving the Cauchy problem they show the existence of a global attractor for the semigroup associated with weak energy solutions.