Self-similar solution-count conjecture for the nonlinear parabolic system

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Consider the boundary-value problem for a function ww on [0,∞)[0,\infty):

w”+n+1rw′−κrw′+3rww′+(n+2)w2−κw=0,w” + \frac{n+1}{r} w' -\kappa r w' + 3 r w w' + (n+2) w^2 - \kappa w =0,

with

w(0)=α>0,w′(0)=0,w(r)∼r−2as r→∞,w(0)=\alpha>0,\qquad w'(0)=0,\qquad w(r)\sim r^{-2}\quad\text{as }r\to\infty,

where κ>0\kappa>0 and n>4n>4. Define

ν(n)=min⁡{k∈N∣k≥n+2n−4}.\nu(n)=\min\left\{k\in\mathbb{N}\mid k\geq\frac{n+2}{n-4}\right\}.

Self-similar solution-count conjecture. For fixed κ>0\kappa>0 and n>4n>4, this boundary-value problem has ν(n)−2\nu(n)-2 non-trivial solutions.

These solutions describe radial self-similar singularities of the parabolic system. The conjectured count is supported by analytical considerations and numerical computations, while existence of all the asserted solutions remains open in the source.

References

Primary source

Petr Plechac and Vladimir Sverak, “Singular and regular solutions of a non-linear parabolic system”, arXiv:math/0302129 (2003).

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