On a class of abstract degenerate parabolic equations (Q2640031)

The aim of this paper is to study existence, uniqueness and regularity of the solution of the initial value problem \((1)\quad u'(t)=\phi (t)Au(t)+f(t),\) \(0<t\leq T,\) \(u(0)=x,\) where D: D(A)\(\subset X\to X\) generates an analytic semigroup \(e^{tA}\) in the Banach space X, \(\phi\) : [0,T]\(\to {\mathbb{R}}\) is a continuous nonnegative (possibly vanishing at \(t=0)\) function, \(x\in X\) and f: [0,T]\(\to X\) is continuous. Such a problem has been considered by, among others, Friedman and Schuss in the case where X is a Hilbert space and \(\phi\) is Hölder continuous. The author also investigates the classical and weak solutions of (1) and gives several regularity results for u and \(u'\). His approach is based on the explicit representation formula for the solution, namely \[ u(t)=e^{A\int^{1}_{0}\phi (r)dr}x+\int^{t}_{0}e^{A\int^{t}_{s}\phi (r)dr}f(s)ds,\quad 0\leq t\leq T. \]