Explosive Instabilities in Mechanics

The subject of blow-up in a finite time, or at least very rapid growth, of a solution to a partial differential equation has been an area of intense re­ search activity in mathematics. Some ofthe early techniques and results were discussed in the monograph by Payne (1975) and in my earlier monograph, Straughan (1982). Relatively recent accounts of blow-up work in partial dif­ ferential equations may be found in the review by Levine (1990) and in the book by Samarskii et al. (1994). It is becoming increasingly clear that very rapid instabilities and, indeed, finite time blow-up are being witnessed also in problems in applied mathematics and mechanics. Also in vogue in the mathematical literature are studies of blow-up in systems of partial differen­ tial equations, partial differential equations with non-linear convection terms, and systems of partial differential equations which contain convection terms. Such equations are often derived from models of mundane situations in real life. This book is an account of these topics in a selection of areas of applied mathematics which either I have worked in or I find particularly interesting and deem relevant to be included in such an exposition. I believe the results given in Chap. 2 and Sects. 4. 2. 3 and 4. 2. 4 are new. This research was partly supported by a Max Planck Forschungspreis from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and the Max Planck Institute.

This book deals with blow-up, or at least very rapid growth, of a solution to a system of partial differential equations that arise in practical physics situations. It begins with a relatively simple account of blow-up in systems of interaction-diffusion equations.
Then the book concentrates on mechanics applications. In particular it deals with the Euler equations, Navier--Stokes equations, models for glacier physics, Korteweg--de-Vries equations, and ferro-hydrodynamics. Blow-up is treated in Volterra equations, too, stressing how these equations arise in mechanics, e.g. in combustion theory. The novel topic of chemotaxis in mathematical biology is also presented. There is a chapter on change of type, from hyperbolic to elliptic, addressing three new and important applications: instability in soils, instability in sea ice dynamics, and also instability in pressure-dependent viscosity flow. Finally, the book includes an exposition of exciting work, very recent and on-going, dealingwith rapid energy growth in parallel shear flows.
The book addresses graduate students as well as researchers in mechanics and applied mathematics.