Well-posedness of second order degenerate differential equations in Hölder continuous function spaces (Q281911)

The authors are interested in second order linear evolution equations of the form \[ (P_1):\quad (Mu)''(t)=Au(t) + f(t),\quad (P_2): \quad (Mu')'(t)=Au(t)+f(t),\quad t \in \mathbb{R} \] in Hölder continuous function spaces \(C^\alpha(\mathbb{R},X)\) for \(\alpha \in (0,1)\). Here, \(A\) and \(M\) are closed operators on a complex Banach space \(X\). The operator \(M\) is not necessarily a positive operator, so some classes of degenerate linear evolution equations are contained in the classes \((P_1)\) and \((P_2)\). The most typical examples for \(M\) are multiplication operators generated by a non-negative function \(m=m(t)\). The authors are able to characterize \(C^\alpha\) well-posedness for both classes of evolution equations. {\parindent=6mm \begin{itemize}\item[1.] Consider \((P_1)\) with \(D(A) \cap D(M) \neq \{0\}\). It is \(C^\alpha\) well-posed if and only if \((-\infty,0] \subset \rho_M(A)\) and the condition \[ \sup_{t \geq 0} \big\| t M (tM+A)^{-1}\big\| <\infty \] is satisfied. \item[2.] Consider \((P_2)\) with \(D(A) \subset D(M)\). It is \(C^\alpha\) well-posed if and only if \((-\infty,0] \subset \rho_M(A)\) and the condition \[ \sup_{t \geq 0} \Big(\big\| t M (tM+A)^{-1}\big\| + \big\| \sqrt{t} (tM+A)^{-1}\big\| \Big) <\infty \] is satisfied. \end{itemize}} Here \(\rho_M(A)\) denotes the \(M\)-resolvent of \(A\). The main tool are operator-valued \(\dot{C}^\alpha\)-Fourier multiplier results on vector-valued spaces of Hölder continuous functions. Some applications to boundary value problems for degenerate elliptic or two-evolution problems complete the paper.