Generalized solutions of nonlinear parabolic equations with distributions as initial conditions (Q914047)

Let \(\Omega\) be a bounded open set about the origin in \(R^ n\) with smooth boundary. The nonlinear parabolic problem \[ u_ t-\Delta u+u^ 3=0\text{ in } Q:=\Omega \times (0,T),\quad T>0 \] with boundary initial condition \(u(x,t)=0\) on \(\partial \Omega \times (0,T)\), \(u(x,0)=\delta (x)\) in \(\Omega\) (\(\delta\) is the Dirac mass at the origin) is considered. Using a theory of generalized functions the authors obtain existence, uniqueness and consistence results that describe the behavior of solutions \(u_{\epsilon}\) obtained with smooth initial conditions \(u_{\epsilon}(x,0)=\delta_{\epsilon}(x)\), \(\delta_{\epsilon}\in D(\Omega)\), and \(\delta_{\epsilon}\to \delta\) when \(\epsilon\to 0\). The key lies in the proper interpretation of the initial condition in order to avoid boundary lay phenomenon at \(t=0\) resulting in the loss of initial data.