No label defined (Q4517650)

The author discusses the existence, uniqueness, and approximation of solutions to parabolic equations of the form \[ u_t=\Delta u+ f\Biggl(u, \fint_\Omega u\Biggr) \] with Dirichlet and initial conditions in a bounded domain \(\Omega\) in \(\mathbb{R}^N\), where \(f: \mathbb{R}^2\to \mathbb{R}\) is continuous, and \(\fint\) denotes the average in the space variable. The existence theory is carried out for a more general case, where the term \(\fint_\Omega u\) is replaced by a nonlinear continuous operator on \(L^2(\Omega)\). As an application, a discontinuous problem arising in combustion is studied. For the entire collection see [Zbl 0944.00055].