Constrained evolution for a quasilinear parabolic equation (Q328425)

The paper is devoted to a problem of control of a distributed equation. The authors prove the well-posedness and some properties for the Cauchy-Neumann problem for a quasilinear parabolic equation which includes an additional term involving the subdifferential of the distance function from a closed convex set of the space of square-integrable functions. This term, containing a scaling parameter, plays as a feedback control law. Then, the authors consider a special case of convex sets of obstacle or double-obstacle type. For this case it is proved that if the scaling parameter is sufficiently large, then the solution reaches the convex set within a finite time, and then, it is allowed to move only inside it.