Some new results on global nonexistence for abstract evolution with positive initial energy (Q1130192)

In a recent paper [\textit{H. A. Levine}, \textit{P. Pucci} and \textit{J. Serrin}, Contemp. Math. 208, 253-263 (1997; Zbl 0882.35081)] the problem of non-continuation was studied for abstract evolution equations of the type \[ Pu_{tt}+Q(t)u_t+A(t,u)=F(t,u),\quad t\in J=[0,\infty),\tag{1} \] where \(P\) and \(Q(t)\) are linear self-adjoint operators, and \(A(t,u)\) and \(F(t,u)\) are typically a divergence operator in \(u\) and a nonlinear driving force. Other versions of (1) were considered earlier by Levine, for which he introduced the important technique of ``concavity'' analysis of auxiliary second order differential inequalities. In all these papers the principal mechanism of blow-up was the assumption of negative initial energy. In an interesting paper, which has just appeared [J. Differ. Equations 137, No. 2, 273-301 (1997; Zbl 0879.35110)], \textit{K. Ono} has also used concavity analysis to study blow-up, but in the more general case when the initial energy is allowed to tke appropriately small positive values. His analysis primarily considers linear wave operators, and moreover is restricted to bounded domains in \(\mathbb{R}^n\). Here we discuss some extensions of Ono's analysis to the abstract equation (1). Moreover, in concrete cases, we introduce appropriate methods to treat divergence structure operators in unbounded domains (including but not necessarily restricted to \(\mathbb{R}^n)\). Our conclusions also yield a larger class of initial data for which blow-up must occur.