We consider an elliptic boundary problem in a bounded region Ω ⊂ ℝn wherein the spectral parameter is multiplied by a real-valued weight function with the property that it, together with its reciprocal, is essentially bounded in Ω. The problem is considered under limited smoothness assumptions and under an ellipticity with parameter condition. Then, fixing our attention upon the operator induced on L2(Ω) by the boundary problem under null boundary conditions, we establish results pertaining to the asymptotic behaviour of the eigenvalues of this operator under weaker smoothness assumptions than have hitherto been supposed.

In this paper we study the quasi-static crack growth for a cohesive zone model. We assume that the crack path is prescribed and we study the time evolution of the crack in the framework of the variational theory of rate-independent processes.

We consider an elliptic equation with a nonlinear boundary condition which is asymptotically linear at infinity and which depends on a parameter. As the parameter crosses some critical values, there appear certain resonances in the equation producing solutions that bifurcate from infinity. We study the bifurcation branches, characterize when they are sub- or supercritical and analyse the stability type of the solutions. Furthermore, we apply these results and techniques to obtain Landesman–Lazer-type conditions guaranteeing the existence of solutions in the resonant case and to obtain an anti-maximum principle.

We study the HN stability of the Vlasov–Poisson Boltzmann system near Maxwellians. Under a suitable smallness assumption on initial data, we show that the global classical solutions constructed by Guo are HN stable. For a stability estimate, we employ the energy methods of Guo.

We study smooth mappings with patterns which given by certain divergence diagrams of smooth mappings. The divergent diagrams of smooth mappings can be regard as smooth mappings from manifolds with singular foliations. Our concerns are generic differential topology and generic smooth mappings with patterns. We give a generic semi-local classification of surfaces with singularities and patterns as an application of singularity theory.

We study the existence of multiple solutions for the problem

and we show that at least one of them is sign changing. Here Ω is a bounded domain in ℝN with N ⩾ 5 whose boundary is of class C2, ∂/∂ν is the outward normal derivative, and f ∈ LN/2(Ω) whose L2N/(N+2)(Ω) norm is sufficiently small.

In 1992, Fountain and Lewin showed that any proper ideal of an endomorphism monoid of a finite independence algebra is generated by idempotents. Here the ranks and idempotent ranks of these ideals are determined. In particular, it is shown that when the algebra has dimension greater than or equal to three the idempotent rank equals the rank.

We consider the flow of a gas into a bounded tank Ω with smooth boundary ∂Q. Initially Ω is empty, and at all times the density of the gas is kept constant on ∂Ω. Choose a number R > 0 sufficiently small that, for any point x in Q having distance R from ∂Ω, the closed ball B with radius R centred at x intersects ∂Ω at only one point. We show that if the gas content of such balls B is constant at each given time, then the tank Ω must be a ball. In order to prove this, we derive an asymptotic estimate for gas content for short times. Similar estimates are also derived in the case of the evolution p-Laplace equation for p ⩾ 2.

We describe a new general method for the computation of the group Aut(X) of self-homotopy equivalences of a space. It is based on the decomposition of Aut(X) induced by a factorization of X into a product of simpler spaces. Normally, such decompositions require assumptions (‘induced equivalence property’, ‘diagonalizability’), which are strongly restrictive and difficult to check. We derive computable homological criteria for an analogous assumption, called reducibility, and then show that these criteria are satisfied when the so-called atomic decomposition of the space is used. This essentially reduces the computation of Aut(X) to the computation of the group of self-equivalences of its atomic factors, and the computation of certain homotopy sets between those factors.

This paper is devoted to the study of time-periodic solutions to the nonlinear one-dimensional wave equation with x-dependent coefficients u(x)ytt – (u(x)yx)x + g(x,t,y) = f(x,t) on (0,π) × ℝ under the periodic boundary conditions y(0,t) = y(π,t), yx(0,t) = yx(π,t) or anti-periodic boundary conditions y(0, t) = –y(π,t), yx[0,t) = – yx(π,t). Such a model arises from the forced vibrations of a non-homogeneous string and the propagation of seismic waves in non-isotropic media. Our main concept is that of the ‘weak solution’. For T, the rational multiple of π, we prove some important properties of the weak solution operator. Based on these properties, the existence and regularity of weak solutions are obtained.