A priori bounds and stability in the retarded nonlinear wave equation (Q1191804)

The object of the authors' work is to give sufficient conditions to ensure that the zero solution of certain generalizations of \(u_{tt}=(a(x)g(u_ x(t-h(t),x)))_ x+(f(u_ x))_{xt}\) is asymptotically stable and to study limit sets. Here, \(0\leq h(t)\leq h\) say, \(a(x)>0\), \(xg(x)>0\) if \(x\neq 0\), \(f'(x)>0\) and \(g'(x)>0\). They impose the boundary conditions \(u(t,0)=u(t,1)=0\). Among other conditions, it is crucial to have \[ \int^ 1_ 0(a(x)g(u_ x))_ xu_ t dx=- \int^ 1_ 0(a(x)g(u_ x))u_{tx} dx. \]