NULL EXACT CONTROLLABILITY OF THE PARABOLIC EQUATIONS WITH EQUIVALUED SURFACE BOUNDARY CONDITION ZHONGQI YIN Received 25 January 2005; Revised 21 April 2005; Accepted 26 April 2005 This paper is devoted to showing the null exact controllability for a class of parabolic equations with equivalued surface boundary condition. Our method is based on the duality argument and global Carleman-type estimate for a parabolic operator. Copyright © 2006 Zhongqi Yin. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. 1. Introduction Let T > 0, Ω ⊂ Rn (n ∈ N) be a given bounded domain, ∂Ω = Γ0 ∪ Γ1 (Γ1 = ∅) (where Γ0 is the interior boundary and Γ1 the outer boundary), Γ0 ∩ Γ1 = ∅. For simplicity, we assume that Γ0 ,Γ1 ∈ C ∞ and ω = ∅ is a given subdomain of Ω. Denote the characteristic function of ω by χω , and the unit outward normal vector of Ω by (n1 ,...,nn ). Put Q = Ω × (0,T), Qω = ω × (0,T), and Σ = ∂Ω × (0,T). Let ai j (x) ∈ C 2 (Ω) satisfy ai j = a ji , and for some Λ > 0, it holds that ai j ξi ξ j ≥ Λ|ξ |2 , ∀(x,ξ) ∈ Ω × Rn . (1.1) i, j Here and henceforth, we denote ni, j =1 simply by i, j . We consider the following controlled parabolic equation with equivalued surface boundary condition: ∂y ∂ ∂y − ai j (x) = χω (x)b ∂t i, j ∂xi ∂x j Γ0 y |Γ1 = 0, ∂y ds = 0, ∂nA in Q, y |Γ0 = m(t), y(x,0) = y0 (x) in Ω, Hindawi Publishing Corporation Journal of Applied Mathematics and Stochastic Analysis Volume 2006, Article ID 62694, Pages 1–10 DOI 10.1155/JAMSA/2006/62694 (1.2) 2 Null controllability of a nonlocal parabolic equation where y = y(x,t) is the state, b = b(x,t) is the control, m(t) ∈ L2 (0,T) is an unknown function which depends only on the time variable t, y0 is the initial state, and ∂y ∂y = ai j (x) ni . ∂nA i, j ∂x j (1.3) In system (1.2), the state space is chosen as L2 (Ω), and the control space is L2 (ω). Let Y y ∈ C [0,T];L2 (Ω) L2 0,T;H 1 (Ω) | y |Γ1 = 0, y |Γ0 = m(·) ∈ L2 (0,T) . (1.4) It can be shown that for any y0 ∈ L2 (Ω) and b ∈ L2 (ω × (0,T)), system (1.2) admits one and only one weak solution y ∈ Y (cf. [5, 6, 8]). The null exact controllability problem of (1.2) is formulated as follows: for any given y0 ∈ L2 (Ω), find a control b(x,t) ∈ L2 (ω × (0,T)) (if possible) such that the weak solution y(·) ∈ Y satisfies y(T) = 0. There are many concrete physical backgrounds for problem (1.2), for example, the problem of resistivity well logging, the unstable temperature field around an underground electric cable, and so on (cf. [5, 6]). In recent years, great progress has been made in the exact controllability problem of the linear and semilinear partial differential equations with Dirichlet or Neumann boundary condition, or other sorts of pointwise boundary value conditions ([1–4, 7, 9], and the references cited therein). However, to the author’s best knowledge, there is no reference devoted to the same problem for the parabolic equations but with a spatial nonlocal boundary condition. In this paper, we will show the null exact controllability for system (1.2). By duality, the problem is reduced to the obtention of an observability inequality for the corresponding adjoint equation, which in turn is derived by means of a global Carleman-type estimate. Our method is stimulated by that in [4]. The rest of this paper is organized as follows. In Section 2, we state some preliminary results and our main results. The final section, Section 3, is devoted to the proof of our main theorem. 2. Main result Throughout this paper, C denotes a positive constant depending only on λ, μ, Ω, T, and ω, which may change from line to line. To begin with, we fix ω0 to be a nonempty open subset of Ω such that ω0 ⊂ ω. Let ψ ∈ C ∞ (Ω) satisfy ψ > 0 in Ω, ψ = 0 on ∂Ω, and |∇ψ(x)| > 0 for all x ∈ Ω0 = Ω\ω0 . The existence of function ψ was proved in [7]. In this paper, we further assume that the following technical condition holds: ∂ψ ∂n 2 ai j ni n j |Γ0 = Const. (2.1) i, j This technical condition admits several interesting cases such as Ω = {x ∈ Rn | r < |x| < R} Zhongqi Yin 3 j for some 0 < r < R < ∞, ai j (x) = δi , and ∂ψ/∂n = Const on Γ0 . In this case, one may choose ψ(x) = (|x|2 − r 2 )(R2 − |x|2 ). The main result in this paper is stated as follows. Theorem 2.1. Under the assumption (2.1), system (1.2) is null exact controllable. By means of the usual duality argument (see, e.g., [3, 9]), the proof of Theorem 2.1 is easily reduced to the obtention of an observability inequality for the following adjoint system of system (1.2): −Lu ≡ − u|Γ1 = 0, Γ0 ∂u ∂u ∂ − ai j (x) = 0 in Q, ∂t i, j ∂xi ∂x j u|Γ0 = c(t), ∂u ds = 0, ∂nA (2.2) u(x,T) = u(T) in Ω, where u(T) ∈ L2 (Ω), and similarly to system (1.2), c(·) ∈ L2 (0,T) is an unknown function. More precisely, we need to show the following. Theorem 2.2. Under the assumption (2.1), there is a constant C > 0 such that solutions u ∈ Y of system (2.2) satisfy u(0) L2 (Ω) ≤ C u(x,t)L2 (ω×(0,T)) . (2.3) Remark 2.3. It would be quite interesting to drop the technical condition (2.1). But this is by now an unsolved problem. 3. Proof of the main theorem It suffices to prove Theorem 2.2. To this end, for any given parameters λ and μ, we set −1 −1 α(x,t) = t(T − t) ϕ(x,t) = t(T − t) eμψ(x) − e2μψ C(Ω) , eμψ(x) , (3.1) θ(x,t) = eλα(x,t) . Clearly, Theorem 2.2 is an easy consequence of the following global Carleman-type estimate for solutions of (2.2). Theorem 3.1. Let (2.1) hold. Then there exist a constant μ1 and a function λ1 : R+ → (1, ∞) such that for any μ > μ1 and λ > λ1 (μ), solutions u ∈ Y of system (2.2) satisfy λ3 Q θ 2 ϕ3 u2 dx dt + λ ≤ Cλ 3 Q θ 2 ϕ|∇u|2 dx dt + λ−1 Q θ 2 ϕ−1 u2t + (Δu)2 dx dt (3.2) 2 3 2 Qω θ ϕ u dx dt. The rest of this section is devoted to prove Theorem 3.1. For this, we need the following pointwise estimate for parabolic operator Lu, which is a special case of [4, Lemma 3.1]. 4 Null controllability of a nonlocal parabolic equation Lemma 3.2. Let u,α ∈ C 2 (Rn+1 ) and λ > 0 be given. Put θ = eλα and v = θu. Then it holds that 2 2 2 θ |Lu| ≥ − λαt v − + ai j vxi vx j + λ ai j i, j 2 j x j αxi v ai j vxi vt + λ2 ai j αxi αt v2 + 2λ 2 2 + λai j αxi x j v − λ ai j αxi αx j v 2 t i 2 ai j am αxi vx vxm + ai j am αx xm i xi v 2 − 2ai j am αx vxi vxm − 2ai j am αx xm vvxi + λai j am αxi αx xm v 2 + λai j am xm αx αxm v 2 2 − λ ai j am αx αxm v 2 xj + λαtt − λ ai j i, j x j αxi t + ai j αxi x j t − λ αi j αxi αx j t − 2λ ai j αxi αt x j + 4λai j αxi x j αt + 2λ 2λ ai j x j am αxi αx xm − ai j am αx xm x j xi − λ am xm ai j αxi αx x j i, j,,m − λ ai j am αxi x j αx xm − 2λai j am αxi x j αx xm 2 + λ ai j am αxi αx j αx 2ai j am αx + 2λ i, j,,m x j vxi vxm xm 2 − 2λ ai j am αxi αx j αx xm v2 − ai j am xm αx vxi vx j + ai j am αx xm vxi vx j . (3.3) Proof of Theorem 3.1. The main idea of our proof is to use the pointwise estimate in Lemma 3.2. The proof is divided into several steps. Step 1. Recall that θ = eλα , v = θu. We claim that Q θ 2 (Lu)2 dx dt − ≥ 2Λ2 λ3 μ4 Q Q div V dx dt + Cλ3 μ3 Q ϕ3 v2 dx dt + Cλμ2 ϕ3 |∇ψ |4 v2 dx dt + 2Λ2 λμ2 Q Q ϕ|∇v|2 dx dt (3.4) ϕ|∇v|2 |∇ψ |2 dx dt, where V = (V1 ,V2 ,...,Vn ), and Vj = − 2 ai j vxi vt + λ2 ai j αxi αt v2 i + 2λ ai j am αxi vx vxm − 2ai j am αx vxi vxm + λai j am i,,m 2 2 − λ ai j am αxi αx αxm v + λai j am αxi αx xm v − 2ai j am αx xm vvxi + ai j am αx xm xi v 2 . 2 xm αxi αxm v 2 (3.5) Zhongqi Yin 5 By the definition of α and ϕ in (3.1), it is easy to see that − λαt v 2 + Q ai j vxi vx j + λ ai j 2 2 2 2 x j αxi v − λ ai j αxi αx j + λai j αxi x j v i, j dt = 0. (3.6) t Let us estimate the last three “energy” terms of first order in the right-hand side of (3.3). First, 4λ a a α v v dx dt i j m x x x xj i m Q i, j,,m 2 ai j am x j μψx ϕvxi vxm + ai j am μψx x j ϕ + μ ψx ψx j ϕ vxi vxm dx dt = 4λ Q i, j,,m ≤ Cλμ 2 Q ϕ|∇v| dx dt + Cλμ 2 Q ϕ|∇v|2 dx dt, (3.7) where C is a positive constant for λ large enough. Next, it is easy to see that − 2λ ≤ a a α v v dx dt Cλμ ϕ|∇v|2 dx dt, i j m xm x xi x j Q Q i, j,,m Q 2λ ai j am αx xm vxi vx j dx dt i, j,,m = Q 2λ μai j am ψx xm ϕvxi vx j + μ ai j am ψx ψxm ϕvxi vx j dx dt i, j,,m ≥ −Cλμ Q ϕ|∇v|2 dx dt + 2λμ2 Λ2 Q ϕ|∇ψ |2 |∇v|2 dx dt. It remains to deal with the “energy” term of zero order, that is, right-hand side of (3.3). Similarly to [4], we have −2 ᏽ λ3 2ai j am αxi αx j αx xm v2 − ai j am αxi αx j αx i, j,,m =− ᏽ 2λ3 μ3 (3.8) 2 xm v 2 Q {· · · }v 2 dx dt, in the dx dt 2ai j am ψxi ψx j ψx xm ϕ3 v2 + 2μai j am ψxi ψx j ψx ψxm ϕ3 v2 i, j,,m − ai j am ψxi ψx j ψx xm ϕ3 v 2 − 3μai j am ψxi ψx j ψx ψxm ϕ3 v 2 dx dt ≥ −Cλ3 μ3 ϕ3 v 2 dx dt + 2λ3 μ4 Λ2 ϕ3 |∇ψ |4 v 2 dx dt. ᏽ ᏽ (3.9) 6 Null controllability of a nonlocal parabolic equation Therefore, for large λ, the following estimate holds: λαtt − λ Q ai j i, j + 2λ x j αxi t − λ ai j αxi αx j t + ai j αxi x j t − 2λ ai j αxi αt x j + 4λai j αxi x j αt 2 λ ai j am αxi αx j αx i, j,,m + 2λ ai j xm x j am αxi αx xm − λ ai j am αxi x j αx xm − λ am xm ai j αxi αx j x j − 2λ2 ai j am αxi αx j αx xm − 2λai j am αxi x j αx xm − ai j am αx xm x j xi ≥ −Cλ3 μ3 ϕ3 v 2 dx dt + 2λ3 μ4 Λ2 ϕ3 |∇ψ |4 v 2 dx dt. ᏽ v2 dx dt Q (3.10) Step 2. From (3.4), one finds C θ 2 (Lu)2 dx dt − Q Q ≥ λ 3 μ4 div V dx dt + λ3 μ3 Q Q ϕ3 |∇ψ |4 v2 dx dt + λμ2 Q ϕ3 v2 dx dt + λμ2 Q ϕ|∇v|2 dx dt (3.11) ϕ|∇ψ |2 |∇v|2 dx dt. Set Qω0 = ω0 × (0,T). (3.12) Noting that |∇ψ(x)| > 0 for all x ∈ Ω0 = Ω \ ω0 , by (3.11), it is easy to see that 2 C Q 2 θ (Lu) dx dt − Q ≥ λ 3 μ4 Q 3 3 div V dx dt + λ μ Q ω0 ϕ3 v2 dx dt + λμ2 Q 3 2 ϕ v dx dt + λμ 2 2 Q ω0 ϕ|∇v| dx dt ϕ|∇v|2 dx dt. (3.13) Returning v to eλα u in (3.13), we arrive at C Q θ 2 (Lu)2 dx dt − ≥ λ3 Q Q div V dx dt + λ3 θ 2 ϕ3 u2 dx dt + λ Q Q ω0 θ 2 ϕ3 u2 dx dt + λ Q ω0 θ 2 ϕ|∇u|2 dx dt θ 2 ϕ|∇u|2 dx dt. (3.14) Step 3. The purpose of this step is to get rid of the fourth term in the left-hand side of (3.14). To this end, we multiply Lu by χθ 2 ϕu and then integrate it over Q, where χ ∈ C0∞ (ω), χ = 1 in ω0 , and χ = 0 in Ω\ω. Then, we obtain ∂u 2 χθ ϕudx dt + Q ∂t ∂ Q i, j ∂xi ai j (x) ∂u χθ 2 ϕudx dt = ∂x j Q (Lu)χθ 2 ϕudx dt. (3.15) Zhongqi Yin 7 Using integration by parts, it is easy to deduce from (3.15) that 2 λ Q ω0 2 2 θ ϕ|∇u| dx dt ≤ C Q 2 θ (Lu) dx dt + λ 3 2 3 2 Qω θ ϕ u dx dt . (3.16) Combining (3.13) and (3.16), we end up with C Q θ 2 (Lu)2 dx dt + λ3 Qω ≥ λ3 Q θ 2 ϕ3 u2 dx dt − Q θ 2 ϕ3 u2 dx dt + λ Q div V dx dt (3.17) θ 2 ϕ|∇u|2 dx dt. Step 4. This step is to estimate the “divergence” term div V . Denote the terms on the right-hand side of (3.5) by Ii , i = 1,2,...,9. First, I1 + I2 = Q j 2 =λ μ ai j vxi vt + λ2 ai j αxi αt v2 2 i T 0 2 2 θ ϕt c (t)dt Γ0 i, j xj T 2 ai j ψxi n j ds − 2λ μ 0 2 2 θ ϕαt c (t)dt Γ0 i, j ai j ψxi n j ds. (3.18) Next, I3 + I5 + I9 = Q j 2λ 2 ai j am αxi vx vxm − 2ai j am αx vxi vxm − λ ai j am αxi αxm v i,,m = −4λ3 μ3 T − 4λ2 μ2 −2 T 0 0 T 0 ϕ2 θ 2 c(t)dt λμϕθ 2 dt Γ i, j,,m dx dt xj ϕ3 c2 (t)θ 2 dt 2 Γ0 i, j,,m Γ0 i, j,,m ai j am ψxi ψx ψxm n j ds ai j am ψx ψxi uxm n j ds ai j am ψx uxi uxm n j ds. (3.19) Further, I4 = Q j = 2λμ2 2λ T 0 ai j am αx xm i T 0 0 xi v Γ0 i, j,,m θ 2 ϕc2 (t)dt T 2 dx dt xj θ 2 ϕc2 (t)dt + 2λμ + 2λμ3 Γ0 i, j,,m θ 2 ϕc2 (t)dt ai j am ai j am Γ0 i, j,,m xi ψx ψxm n j ds xi ψx xm n j ds ai j am ψxi ψx ψxm n j ds 8 Null controllability of a nonlocal parabolic equation + 2λμ2 T 0 + 2λμ 2 T 2 T 0 T Γ0 i, j,,m θ 2 ϕc2 (t)dt 0 2 θ ϕc (t)dt + 2λμ Γ0 i, j,,m Γ0 i, j,,m 2 2 θ ϕc (t)dt 0 ≥ Cλμ3 θ 2 ϕc2 (t)dt Γ0 i, j,,m ai j am ψxi x ψxm n j ds ai j am ψx ψxi xm n j ds ai j am ψxi x x n j ds ai j am ψxi ψx ψxm n j ds. (3.20) Further, I6 = − Q j = −4λ2 μ3 − 4λμ2 − 4λμ2 − 4λμ 4λ T 0 T 0 T 0 T ai j am αx xm vvxi i,,m θ 2 ϕ2 c2 (t)dt θ 2 ϕ2 c2 (t)dt 0 Γ0 i, j,,m Γ0 i, j,,m θ 2 ϕc(t)dt Γ0 i, j,,m θ 2 ϕc(t)dt dx dt xj Γ0 i, j,,m ai j am ψxi ψx ψxm n j ds ai j am ψxi ψx xm n j ds (3.21) ai j am ψx ψxm uxi n j ds ai j am ψx xm uxi n j ds. Finally, I7 + I8 = Q j = 2λ2 μ3 2λ T 0 + 2λ2 μ2 + 2λ2 μ2 2 ai j am αxi αx xm v + ai j am i,,m θ 2 ϕ2 c2 (t)dt T 0 T 0 2 xm αxi αxm v 2 dx dt ) xj Γ0 i, j,,m θ 2 ϕ2 c2 (t)dt θ 2 ϕ2 c2 (t)dt ai j am ψxi ψx ψxm n j ds Γ0 i, j,,m Γ0 i, j,,m (3.22) ai j am ψxi ψx xm n j ds ai j am xm ψxi ψxm n j ds. Now, combining (3.18)–(3.22) and using the technical condition (2.1), we conclude that, for large λ and μ, it holds that Q div V dx dt ≥ Cλ3 μ3 T 0 θ 2 ϕ3 c2 (t)dt − 4λμΛ T 0 θ 2 ϕdt Γ |∇u|2 i, j ai j ψxi n j ds. (3.23) Zhongqi Yin 9 Step 5. It remains to estimate that vt + ai j vxi 2 Q (λϕ) −1 2 θ (u2t + ≤ C λ2 α2t v 2 + xj i, j i, j (ai j uxi )x j ) 2 λ ai j 2 dx dt. For this, we observe 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 x j αxi v + λ ai j αxi x j v i, j + λ4 a2i j α2xi α2x j v2 + λ2 a2i j α2i j α2xi vx2j + ai j 2 2 x j vxi (3.24) . This implies (λϕ) −1 vt + ai j vxi i, j 2 xj ≤ C(λϕ)−1 λ2 α2t v 2 + 2 λ ai j i, j 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 x j αxi v + λ ai j αxi x j v + λ4 a2i j α2xi α2x j v2 + λ2 a2i j α2i j α2xi vx2j + ai j 2 2 x j vxi (3.25) ≤ C λ3 μ4 ϕ3 v 2 + λμϕ|∇v |2 . Noting that 2 (λϕ)−1 vt ai j vxi Q i, j =2 x j dx dt ai j (λϕ) vxi vt Q i, j −1 + x j dx dt − 2 Q ai j t (λϕ)−1 vxi vx j dx dt + Q −1 ai j (λϕ)x j vxi vt dx dt+ Q ai j (λϕ)−1 vt Q ai j (λϕ)−t 1 vxi vx j dx dt xi vx j dx dt , (3.26) we get 2 Q (λϕ) −1 i, j 1 ai j vxi x j vt dx dt ≤ 2 −1 2 Q (λϕ) vt dx dt + Cλ T + λμ 0 2 θαt c (t)dt Q Γ0 i, j ϕ|∇v|2 dx dt (3.27) ai j ψxi n j ds. By (3.24)–(3.27), we obtain that Q (λϕ)−1 vt2 + vxi x j 2 dx dt ≤C Q (Lu)2 θ 2 dx dt + λ3 T + λμ 0 θαt c2 (t)dt Γ0 i, j Q ω0 μ3 ϕ3 v2 dx dt + λ ai j ψxi n j ds. Q ω0 μϕ|∇v|2 dx dt (3.28) 10 Null controllability of a nonlocal parabolic equation This gives Q (λϕ)−1 vt2 + (Δv)2 dx dt ≤C Q (Lu)2 θ 2 dx dt + λ3 T + λμ 0 θαt c2 (t)dt Γ0 i, j Q ω0 μ3 ϕ3 v2 dx dt + λ Q ω0 μϕ|∇v|2 dx dt (3.29) ai j ψxi n j ds. It is easy to see that the last term of the above inequality can be absorbed by (3.23) for large λ and μ. Finally, replacing v by eλα u and combining (2.2), (3.16), (3.17), (3.23), and (3.29), we get the desired estimate (3.2). This completes the proof of Theorem 3.1. Acknowledgments This work is partially supported by FANEDD of China (Project No 200119), NCET of China under Grant NCET-04-0882, and the NSF of China under Grants 10371084 and 10525105. The author gratefully acknowledges Professor Xu Zhang for his guidance, encouragement, and suggestions. References [1] V. Barbu, Exact controllability of the superlinear heat equation, Applied Mathematics and Optimization. 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Shen, Initial-boundary problem for the second order parabolic equations with equivalued surface boundary condition, Journal of Fudan University Natural Science 4 (1978), 15–23 (Chinese). [7] G. Wang and L. Wang, The Carleman inequality and its application to periodic optimal control governed by semilinear parabolic differential equations, Journal of Optimization Theory and Applications 118 (2003), no. 2, 429–461. [8] X. Zhang, Solvability of non-linear parabolic boundary value problem with equivalued surface, Mathematical Methods in the Applied Sciences 22 (1999), no. 3, 259–265. , Exact Controllability of Semi-linear Distributed Parameter Systems, Chinese Higher Ed[9] ucation Press, Beijing, 2004. Zhongqi Yin: Department of Engineering and Technology of Caotang School, Sichuan Normal University, Chengdu 610072, China E-mail address: zhongqiyin@sohu.com