A mountain pass method for the numerical solution of semilinear wave equations (Q1326386)

The authors study periodic solutions of the semilinear vibrating string model equation \(u_{tt} - u_{xx} + au^ + -bu^ - = -\sin (\pi x) [1-\gamma \sin (2 \pi t)]\), \(u(0,t) = u(1,t) = 0\), \(u(x,t+1) = u(x,t)\) (here \(u^ + = {1 \over 2} (| u | + u)\), \(u^ - = {1 \over 2} (| u | - u)\). The problem is reformulated as a dual variational problem in such a way that the obvious solution obtained as a solution of the linear problem, is a local minimum. Then additional non-obvious solutions can be found by using a numerical mountain pass algorithm. Three test calculations illustrate the method.