No label defined (Q4535128)

This paper deals with equations of the type \[ \dfrac{\partial u}{\partial t}=\dfrac{1}{b} \text{div}(a\dfrac{\nabla u}{|\nabla u|}), \] where \(a, b\) are positive given functions. The main scope is to analyze the initial-boundary problem in the 1-D case, describing the very peculiar behaviour of the solutions. However, some results are reviewed in the general framework, starting from the formulation \[ \dfrac{du}{dt} \in -\partial \phi (u),\;u/_{t=0}=u_0 \] in a Hilbert space, for which existence and uniqueness is known. For the one-dimensional problem the emphasis is on the behaviour of solutions developing from piecewise constant initial data. Nontrivial conditions are found on \(a, b\) for the solutions to develop ``plateaus''. A detailed numerical study is performed. For the entire collection see [Zbl 0980.00032].