No label defined (Q4445273)

This paper is a survey paper on viscosity solutions for (possibly degenerate) elliptic PDEs. The concept of viscosity solutions is introduced by a simple example (the eikonal equation on \([-1,1]\)) and subsequently extended to general first order and second order equations. Lots of examples (the eikonal equation, Hamilton--Jacobi equations, motion by mean curvature...) illustrate classes of PDEs where this generalized solution concept can be successfully applied. The author presents both fundamental properties of viscosity solutions (existence, uniqueness, stability and regularity results, compatibility with classical solution concepts, asymptotic problems) and typical techniques used in the proofs when working with viscosity solutions (like the comparison principle and the separation of variables), often reduced to the core arguments but always with precise references to the full proofs. In my opinion this is an excellent survey paper for people who have some background in PDEs and would like to learn about the wide range of possibilities of this solution concept from a PDE point of view (classical applications of viscosity solutions like, e.g., optimal control are mentioned but not treated in detail). The numerous references also provide the opportunity to use this paper as a starting point for a deeper study of the subject.