scientific article; zbMATH DE number 1036152
The author proves a Carleman estimate for second order partial differential operators with a semidefinite principal symbol depending only on one variable and satisfying an additional condition on the whole symbol. Let \(\Omega\) be an open and bounded subset of \(\mathbb{R}^n\), containing the origin, let \(\overline \Omega\) be the closure of \(\Omega\), let \(\Omega^+\) be the set \(\{x \in \Omega|x_1 \geq 0\}\), \(D_j\) means \(-i \partial_{x_j}\) and \(x' = (x_2, \dots, x_n)\). Let \[ P(x, D_x) = D_1^2 + \sum_{j,k = 2}^n a_{j,k}(x_1) D_jD_k + \sum_{j = 1}^n b_j(x)D_j + c(x) \] be a second order differential operator with symmetric real valued \(C^1\) leading coefficients defined on \(\overline \Omega\) and depending only on \(x_1\), and with the other coefficents complex valued and bounded in \(\Omega\). Suppose that there are positive constants \(C\) and \(C'\) such that \[ (1) \sum_{j,k = 2}^n a_{j,k}(x_1) \xi_j\xi_k \geq 0,\;\text{\;and\;} (2) \sum_{j,k = 2}^n \left(Ca_{j,k}(x_1) + \frac{da_{j,k}}{dx_1}(x_1)\right) \xi_j\xi_k \geq C' \left|\sum_{j = 1}^n b_j(x)\xi_j\right|^2, \] for all \(x \in \Omega^+\), and \(\xi \in \mathbb{R}^{n-1}\). The author proves a Carleman estimate: there exist positive constants \(K, X_1, R, \delta, \tau_0\) depending on \(C, C'\) and the \(L^{\infty}\) norms of \(a_{j,k}, da_{j,k}/dx_1, b_j\), and \(c\) such that for \(\tau \geq \tau_0\) and for all \((0,x') \in \Omega\), \[ ||e^{\tau(X_1 - x_1 -\delta |x'-\overline{x}'|^2)^2} Pu||_{L^2}^2 \geq K(\tau^3||e^{\tau(X_1 - x_1 -\delta|x'-\overline{x}'|^2)^2} u||_{L^2}^2 + \tau ||e^{\tau(X_1 - x_1 -\delta|x'-\overline{x}'|^2)^2} D_1u||_{L^2}^2), \] for smooth \(u\) supported in a set that depends on \(X_1, R\). The Carleman estimate is used to show that \(P\) has the uniqueness property in the Cauchy problem with respect to the hypersurface \(\{x \in \Omega|x_1 = 0 \}\) at the origin, i.e., if \(u \in H^2_{loc}(\Omega)\), supp\(u \subseteq \Omega^+\), and \(Pu = 0\) near the origin, then \(u = 0\) near the origin. Condition (2) was used by Nirenberg to prove a weaker uniqueness property (compact uniqueness); however, the principal symbol depended on all variables. There are examples showing that (1) alone does not guarantee uniqueness even for smooth (\(C^{\infty}\) or Gevrey class) solutions. The author uses his estimate to show that the ill-posed problem \[ Qf = D_t^2 - P(x, D_x)f = F,\quad v|_{x_1 = 0} = v_0, \partial_{x_1} v|_{x_1 = 0} = v_1, \] satisfies a local uniqueness property. This had been proved by Robbiano for elliptic operators \(P\) depending on all the variables.
This page was built for publication:
Report a bug (only for logged in users!)Click here to report a bug for this page (MaRDI item Q4344604)
