The thin film equation with backwards second order diffusion (Q629817)

The authors study the following initia-boundary value problem \[ \begin{aligned} &u_t + (u^n(u_{xxx} + \nu u^{m-n}u_x - Au^{M-n}u_x))_x = 0, \quad (x,t) \in Q,\\ &u_x(\pm a,t) = u_{xxx}(\pm a,t) = 0,\quad \text{when } u(\pm a,t) \neq 0, \quad t \in (0,\infty),\\ &u(x,0) = u_0(x), \quad x \in \overline\Omega, \end{aligned} \] where \(\nu = \pm 1\), \(Q = \Omega\times (0,T)\), \(0 < T <\infty\), \(\Omega = (-a,a)\) and \(a \in (0,\infty)\) is arbitrary. Here \(n > 0\), \(M > m\), \(A \geq 0\) and \(u_0 \in H^1(\Omega)\), \(u_0 \geq 0\). This problem models the evolution of thin films in the presence of gravity and thermo-capillary effects. Global existence of weak nonnegative solutions to the problem is proven when \(m-n > -2\) and \(A > 0\) or \(\nu = -1\), and when \(-2 < m-n<2\), \(A = 0\), \(\nu = 1\). The so-called strong entropy solutions are obtained under the additional constraint that \(m-n > -3/2\) if \(\nu = 1\). Moreover the authors prove the existence of finite speed propagation when \(m > n/2\) for the case of ``weak slippage'': \(0 < n < 2\), when \(\nu = 1\) using local entropy estimates, and for the case of ``weak slippage'': \(2 \leq n < 3\), when \(\nu = \pm 1\) based on local entropy and energy estimates.