No label defined (Q4239307)

The book presents results on the flow-invariance of a closed set in a Banach space, with respect to a vector field, or to a differential equation, and points out its unifying presentation in the study of differential equations, evolution equations, and optimization problems. Many various applications are treated such as nonlinear parabolic equations, critical point of functionals, optimal control of partial differential equations. This book consists of seven chapters and four appendixes. Many results presented are the work of the authors. In Chapter 1, the notions of tangent cone and second order tangent cone to closed sets or to Banach manifolds are introduced. The Chapter 2 is devoted to basic results on flow-invariance of a closed set (or a differential manifold) with respect to a vector field. The applications show the unifying effect of flow-invariance in the theory of differential equations. The particular case of second-order differential equations on a Banach manifold is treated in Chapter 3. Applications to flight mechanics are considered at the end of this chapter. Flow invariant sets with respect to semilinear differential equations of the form \(y'=Ay+f(t,y)\), where \(A\) is the infinitesimal generator of a continuous semigroup, are studied in Chapter 4. Local existence results to semilinear parabolic equations are presented as applications. Chapter 5 deals with applications of the transversality theory in flow invariance problems. This approach yields extensions of results obtained in Chapter 1. Optimization problems in Banach spaces, together with optimal control problems are studied in Chapter 6. Starting with Ekeland's variational principle, general optimality principles in terms of tangential and normal cones, as well as extensions to Banach manifolds, are discussed. Chapter 7 is devoted to an extension of critical point theory to flow invariant sets. Applications to existence theorems for semilinear elliptic equations are considered. Four appendices enrich this book. Appendix 1 is an introduction to the theory of nonlinear analysis, dealing with basic tools in convex analysis and in the theory of monotone operators. In Appendix 2, several fundamental results on approximate difference schemes for the Cauchy problem \(u'\in Au\), \(u(0)=0\), are provided. The Crandall-Liggett formula for nonlinear semigroups is proved in detail. Flow invariance theorems obtained by difference-scheme approximate solutions are also presented. A short introduction to Banach manifolds and to vector fields is presented in Appendix 3. In Appendix 4, some results on the generalized gradient of Clarke are recalled. By the variety of considered problems and the originality of some approaches, this book is an important reference in pure and applied mathematics, more precisely in nonlinear analysis, optimization, optimal control, ordinary differential equations, partial differential equations, and critical point theory.