Globally positive solutions of linear parabolic PDEs of second order with Robin boundary conditions (Q1359551)

Let \(\Omega\subset\mathbb{R}^n\) be a bounded domain with boundary \(\partial\Omega\) of class \(C^2\). We consider a linear parabolic differential equation of second order \[ u_t= \sum^n_{i,j=1} {\partial\over\partial x_i} \Biggl(a_{ij}(x){\partial u\over\partial x_j}\Biggr)+ a_0(t,x)u,\quad t\in\mathbb{R},\;x\in\Omega,\tag{1} \] where \(a_{ij}= a_{ji}\in C^1(\overline\Omega)\), \(\sum^n_{i,j=1} a_{ij}(x)\xi_i\xi_j>0\) for each \(x\in\overline\Omega\) and each nonzero \((\xi_1,\dots,\xi_n)\in\mathbb{R}^n\), and \(a_0\in L^\infty(\mathbb{R}\times\Omega)\). Equation (1) is complemented with regular oblique (Robin) homogeneous boundary conditions \[ {\partial u\over\partial\nu} (t,x)+ c(x)u(t,x)=0,\quad t\in\mathbb{R},\;x\in\partial\Omega,\tag{2} \] where \(\nu\in C^1(\partial\Omega,\mathbb{R}^n)\) is a vector field pointing out of \(\Omega\) and \(c\in C^1(\partial\Omega)\) is a nonnegative function. Our main result is the following Theorem. Let \(u_1\), \(u_2\) be solutions of (1) and (2) defined and positive for all \(t\in\mathbb{R}\) and all \(x\in\overline\Omega\). Then there is a positive constant \(\kappa\) such that \(u_1(t,x)= \kappa u_2(t,x)\) for all \(t\in\mathbb{R}\) and all \(x\in\overline\Omega\). A key idea in the proofs is to consider a family of linear parabolic PDEs obtained by letting the coefficient \(a_0(t,x)\) vary in some metrizable compact subset of the vector space \(L^\infty(\mathbb{R}\times\Omega)\) endowed with the weak* topology. That family generates in a natural way a compact linear skew-product semiflow on a (product) vector bundle with generic fiber \(L^1(\Omega)\).