Energy decay and diffusion phenomenon for the asymptotically periodic damped wave equation (Q1712754)

An IVP with data \((u_0,u_1)\in H^1(\mathbb{R}^d)\times L^2(\mathbb{R}^d)\) for the damped wave equation \(\partial_t^2u+Pu+a(x)\partial_tu=0\) is considered. \(P\) denotes the Laplace operator, and the absorption index \(a(x)\) is a bounded, continuous function, \(a(x)\geq 0\). The energy \(E(t)\) and the local energy \(E_\delta(t)\) are defined. The aim is to obtain results on local and global decay for the solution of the damped wave equation. In the periodic setting, in case, a damping condition is satisfied, decay estimates for the energy of the wave as well as for the solution itself are proved. The estimates are sharp. The main result in this paper is a comparison with the solution to the heat equation. In periodic setting, if one assumes the damping condition is satisfied, estimates for the difference between the solution of the damped wave equation and the solution of the corresponding heat equation as well as for their derivatives are proved. While estimating the difference between gradients, a bounded corrector factor \(W(x)\) multiplying the solution of the heat equation is needed. The generalization of these results for the case of perturbed setting is considered and from the previous estimates, energy estimates in the general setting are deduced. The contributions of high and low frequencies are analyzed.