A note on the Kuramoto-Sivashinsky equation with discontinuity (Q2167479)

The paper analyses the fourth-order ordinary differential equation \[ u^{(4)} + \mathrm{sgn}(u) = 0, \] which arises in the study of the Kuramoto-Sivashinsky equation and is a simple prototype of differential equations with a discontinuous nonlinearity. Starting from the conjecture of the existence of a unique nontrivial periodic solution which is asymptotically stable for \(t\to+\infty\) proposed in [\textit{V. A. Galaktionov} and \textit{S. R. Svirshchevskii}, Exact solutions and invariant subspaces of nonlinear partial differential equations in mechanics and physics. Boca Raton, FL: Chapman \& Hall/CRC (2007; Zbl 1153.35001)], the authors investigate the extinction profile of the solutions of a more general equations of the form \[ \pm u^{(k)} = f(u). \] They give a partial (positive) answer to the conjecture, proving the existence of a nontrivial periodic asymptotically stable solution; the uniqueness remains an open problem. Moreover, they prove that for every \(T\in\mathbb{R}\) there exist solutions that disappear oscillating at \(T\) and solutions that appear oscillating at \(T\).