Global solvability of nonlinear wave equation with a viscoelastic boundary condition (Q1312911)

This paper is concerned with the nonlinear wave equation \[ u_{tt}- \sigma(u_ x)_ x =0, \qquad 0<x<L, \quad t>0. \] The initial conditions are standard, as is the Dirichlet boundary condition at \(x=0\); but the end \(x=L\) has the viscoelastic boundary condition \[ u+ \int_ 0^ t a(t- \tau) \sigma(u_ x) (x,\tau) d\tau= g(t). \] The problem is a model for the one-dimensional motion of an elastic rod which is connected to a viscoelastic element at one end. The main aim of the paper is to establish global existence of a solution for small data. Smoothness and compatibility assumptions on the data are introduced; in particular it is assumed that \(a(t)= a_ \infty+ A(t)\) where \(a_ \infty\) is a nonnegative constant and \(A\in C^ 3 [0,\infty)\) is a nonnegative function. Then a local existence result is proved: the problem is shown to have a unique solution \(u\in C^ 3 ([0,L]\times [0,T])\) where \(T\) depends only on the magnitude of the initial data. The global existence theorem is then proved with the use of the local result and some a priori energy-type estimates. The derivation of these estimates requires a long series of technical manipulations, and constitutes the bulk of the paper.