Critical curves for multidimensional nonlinear diffusion equations coupled by nonlinear boundary sources (Q503522)

The authors analyze systems of porous medium equations on the exterior domain of the unit ball in \(\mathbb{R}^N\), \(N>2,\) that are coupled by nonlinear boundary sources, \[ \begin{aligned} \partial_tu&=\Delta u^{m}, \partial_tv=\Delta v^{n}, (0,\infty)\times \mathbb{R}^N\setminus B_1(0),\\ \nabla u\cdot \vec{\nu} &= v^{\alpha}, \nabla v\cdot \vec{\nu} = u^{\beta}, (0,\infty)\times \partial B_1(0),\\ u|_{t=0}&=u_0, v|_{t=0}=v_0, \{0\}\times \mathbb{R}^N\setminus B_1(0), \end{aligned} \] where \(m,n>1\), \(\alpha, \beta\geq0\), \(\vec{\nu}\) denotes the inward unit normal vector on the boundary \( \partial B_1(0)\), and \(u_0,v_0\) are non-negative, smooth functions with compact support. It is shown that there exists a critical curve determining the finite-time blow-up or global existence of non-negative solutions. In fact, if \(0\leq \alpha\beta<mn\) every non-negative solution exists globally; if \(\alpha\beta>mn\), solutions with large initial data blow up in finite time, while solutions with sufficiently small initial data exist globally. The proofs are based on comparison principles and the construction of suitable global upper solutions, or lower solutions that blow up in finite time, respectively. Such problems have been investigated in greater detail in the one-dimensional case \(N=1\) in [\textit{F. Quirós}, and \textit{D. Rossi}, Indiana Univ. Math. J. 50, No. 1, 629--654 (2001; Zbl 0994.35027)].