Stability of receding traveling waves for a fourth order degenerate parabolic free boundary problem (Q1735497)

The authors consider the thin-film equation $h_t+(hh_{yyy})_y=0$ with a zero contact angle at the free boundary, that is, at the triple junction where liquid, gas, and solid meet. Here, $h(t,y)$ models the height of a two-dimensional thin viscous film on a one-dimensional flat substrate as a function of time $t$ and base point $y$ on the substrate. \par The authors consider traveling waves $h=\frac{V}{6}x^3+\nu x^2$, for $x\ge 0$, where $x=y-Vt$ and $V,\nu\ge 0$ are free parameters. \par The linear stability analysis leads to a linear fourth-order degenerate-parabolic operator and the problem \[ \begin{cases} \partial_t u+\mathcal{A}u=f, \ \text{ for } t, x >0\\ u=0 \text{ for } t>0, x=0, \end{cases} \] where $\mathcal{A}=\partial_x(x^3+x^2)\partial_x^3$. Existence and uniqueness of solutions in suitable spaces are shown for $f$ with $f=0$ for $t>0, x=0$. Moreover, the authors prove $u$ fulfills maximal regularity estimates to arbitrary orders of the expansion in $x$ in a right-neighborhood of the contact line $x=0$. This, in turn, leads to a well-posedness and stability result for the corresponding nonlinear equation.