Partial differential equations. 1: Basic theory (Q1914099)

This is the first volume of a book intended to study some of the major aspects of PDEs. Chapter 1 provides background material on the theory of ordinary differential equations. One finds here: existence and uniqueness of solutions of ODEs, flows generated by vector fields, Lie derivative, differential forms, symplectic form, Hamiltonian systems, first-order PDEs, relativistic motion and classical Newtonian mechanics. There are also applications to topology: degree theory, fixed point theorem, Jordan-Brouwer separation theorem. In Chapter 2, there are introduced the central linear PDEs of second order: the Laplace equation and the wave equation. We also find here the Laplace operator on a general Riemannian manifold and the wave equation on a Lorentzian manifold. Energy estimates for more general hyperbolic equations prepare the way to existence theory in Chapter 6. Maxwell's equations are considered in the framework of special relativity; and we have Wheeler's result, that in relativistic space-time the 2 ``subtle'' Maxwell's equations follow from the 2 ``simple'' ones. Chapter 3 and 4 are devoted to the standard introductions to Fourier analysis, distribution theory and to \(L^2\)-Sobolev spaces. Chapter 5 is devoted to the study of existence and regularity of solutions to (general) linear elliptic PDEs, on bounded regions (with general boundary conditions). The author develops also Hodge theory and applies it to De Rham cohomology. In Chapter 6, the author studies linear evolution equations with initial data given at \(t=0\). There are discussed the heat and the wave equations, Maxwell's equations and more general hyperbolic systems. Also treated are geometrical optics, providing approximations to solutions of wave equations whose initial data either are highly oscillatory or possess simple singularities. The author states that the book is addressed to readers with a background in the basic introductory graduate mathematics courses in American universities: elementary real and complex analysis, differential geometry and measure theory. This is an overstatement: those courses should be high-level, for instance differential geometry should include a working knowledge of manifolds, differential forms, vector bundles, Lie derivatives, De Rham cohomology, connections, curvature a.o. -- otherwise the reader will not get the finer points of the exposition.