Small data blow-up of semi-linear wave equation with scattering dissipation and time-dependent mass (Q2119790)

The authors study the Cauchy problem of \[ u_{tt} - \Delta_g u + a(t) u_t + b(t) u = |u|^p \] in \(\mathbb{R}^n \times [0,\infty)\) with the intial conditions \(u(x,0) = \varepsilon f(x)\) and \(u_t(x,0) = \varepsilon g(x)\). Here, \(\Delta_g\) is a uniform elliptic operator which is a perturbation of the Laplacian, and \(a(t)\) and \(b(t)\) satisfy \(a(t), tb(t) \in L^1([0,\infty))\). Under these assumptions, one can expect that the damping and the mass terms are perturbations and the behavior of the solution is similar to that of the nonlinear wave equation \(\square u = |u|^p\). Indeed, the authors prove the blow-up of the energy solution as well as the upper bound of the lifespan when \(p\) is less than or equal to the so-called Strauss exponent. In particular, they removed the restriction that \(b(t)\) is nonnegative in the result by [\textit{N.-A. Lai} et al. [in: New tools for nonlinear PDEs and application. Proceedings of the 11th ISAAC congress, Växjö, Sweden, August 14--18, 2017. Cham: Birkhäuser. 217--240 (2019; Zbl 1428.35227)]. The proof is based on the iteration argument and the multiplier method. To apply the multiplier method for the equation with two variable coefficients, the authors introduce ``the double multiplier method'', which employs two suitable functions as a multiplier defined from the coefficients \(a(t)\) and \(b(t)\).