Math 246C Homework 2

Alan Raydan
May 13, 2019

Question 1: Let u be a C 2 solution of

 2
∂t u − 4∂x2 u = 0 in (0, ∞) × R,
u(0, x) = u0 (x), ∂t u(0, x) = u1 (x).

1. Prove that if both u0 and u1 are odd, then u is odd in x for each t.

Proof. From d’Alembert’s formula, we know the general solution is given by

1 x+2t
Z
1
u(t, x) = [u0 (x + 2t) + u0 (x − 2t)] + u1 (y) dy. (1)
2 4 x−2t

Fixing t ∈ (0, ∞), we get

1 −x+2t
Z
1
u(t, −x) = [u0 (−x + 2t) + u0 (−x − 2t)] + u1 (y) dy
2 4 −x−2t
1 x+2t
Z
1
= [−u0 (x − 2t) − u0 (x + 2t)] − u1 (y) dy
2 4 x−2t
1 x+2t
 Z 
1
=− [u0 (x + 2t) + u0 (x − 2t)] + u1 (y) dy
2 4 x−2t
= −u(t, x)

which demonstrates that u is odd in x.

2. Suppose u0 = u1 = 0 for all x ≤ 0. Find the region in (0, ∞) × R in which u(t, x) = 0,

give the reason.

Proof. In eq. (1), notice that the term u0 (x + 2t) + u0 (x − 2t) is 0 when both x ≤ −2t
and x ≤ 2t. For t ≥ 0 we have −2t ≤ 2t so both conditions are satisfied
R x+2t when x ≤ −2t.
We also have that u1 (x + 2t) = 0 whenever x ≤ −2t, so the term x−2t u1 (y) dy is also
0 in this region. There for the region in which u = 0 is graphed on the last page. This
is in keeping with the finite speed of propagation for the wave equation.

1
 Question 2: Let u solve the initial value problem for the wave equation in one dimension:
 2
∂t u − ∂x2 u = 0 in (0, ∞) × R,
u(0, x) = u0 (x), ∂t u(0, x) = u1 (x).
R∞
Assume u0 and u1 have compact support. The kinetic energy of u is k(t) = −∞ |∂t u(t, x)|2 dx
R∞
and the potential energy of u is p(t) = −∞ |∂x u(t, x)|2 dx. Show
1. u(t, ·) has compact support in R for all t > 0.

Proof. Since u0 and u1 have compact support, there exist closed intervals such that
supp(u0 ) ⊂ [−a, a] and supp(u1 ) ⊂ [−b, b]. As before, the general solution to the IVP
is
1 x+t
Z
1
u(t, x) = [u0 (x + t) + u0 (x − t)] + u1 (y) dy.
2 2 x−t
Fixing t > 0, note that the function u0 (x + t) is supported in [−a + t, a + t] and
u0 (x − t) is supported in [−a − t, a − t] which implies that supp(u0 (x + t) + u0 (x − t)) ⊂
[−a − t, a + t]. Similarly, the term involving the integral is supported in [−b − t, b + t]
which demonstrates that supp(u) ⊂ [−a − t, a + t] ∪ [−b − t, b + t]. So u has compact
support for each t > 0.

2. k(t) + p(t) is constant in t.

Proof. We start by taking the derivative of k + p with respect to time to get

d ∞
Z
d
[k(t) + p(t)] = |∂t u|2 + |∂x u|2 dx
dt dt −∞
Z ∞
∂t |∂t u|2 + |∂x u|2 dx


= (the integral is convergent)
−∞
Z ∞
= 2∂t u∂t2 u + 2∂x u∂xt u dx (chain rule)
−∞
Z ∞
=2 ∂t u(∂t2 u − ∂x2 u) dx (integration by parts)
−∞
= 0,

where the final equality comes from the fact that u solves the wave equation. This
demonstrates that k + p is constant.

3. k(t) = p(t) for t sufficiently large.

Proof. We begin by investigating the behavior of the difference of k and p:

Z ∞
k(t) − p(t) = |∂t u|2 − |∂x u|2 dx
Z−∞
∞
= (∂t u + ∂x u)(∂t u − ∂x u) dx.
−∞

2
 But from the d’Alembert formula, we get that
1
∂t u(t, x) = [u00 (x + t) − u00 (x − t) + u1 (x + t) + u1 (x − t)]
2
and
1
∂x u(t, x) = [u00 (x + t) + u00 (x − t) + u1 (x + t) − u1 (x − t)].
2
Substituting this into the equation for k − p yields
Z ∞
k(t) − p(t) = [u00 (x + t) + u1 (x + t)][−u00 (x − t) + u1 (x − t)] dx. (2)
−∞

Since u0 and u1 have compact support which implies that u00 also has compact support.
As before let supp(u00 ) ⊂ [−a, a] and supp(u1 ) ⊂ [−b, b]. Without loss of generality, we
may assume b ≥ a in which case have [−a, a] ⊂ [−b, b]. It then follows that

supp[u00 (x + t) + u1 (x + t)] ⊂ [−b + t, b + t]

and
0
supp[−u0 (x − t) + u1 (x − t)] ⊂ [−b − t, b − t].

Now it suffices to let t > b so that [−b + t, b + t] ∩ [−b − t, b − t] = ∅. This implies that
whenever one factor in (2) is nonzero, the other factor must be zero. So for t > b we
have
k(t) − p(t) = 0
as desired.

Question 3: Let Ω be a bounded domain in Rn , consider the initial-boundary value

problem  2
 ∂t u + a2 (t, x)∂t u − ∆u = 0 in (0, ∞) × Ω
u(t, x) = 0 x ∈ ∂Ω
u(0, x) = u0 (x), ∂t u(0, x) = u1 (x).


Here a(t, x), u0 , and u1 are smooth functions. Prove that the L2 -norm of the solution is
bounded for any t ∈ (0, ∞).
Proof. We will begin by showing that the total energy
Z
1
e(t) = (∂t u)2 + |∇u|2 dx
2 Ω

3
is nonincreasing. We take the derivative of e to get
 Z 
d d 1 2 2
e(t) = (∂t u) + |∇u| dx
dt dt 2 Ω
Z
= ∂t u∂t2 u + ∇u · ∇∂t u dx
ZΩ
= ∂t u(∂t2 u − ∆u) dx (integration by parts)
ΩZ

= − (∂t u)2 a2 (t, x) dx

Ω
≤ 0,

which shows e is nonincreasing. This implies that

Z Z
1 2 2 1
(∂t u) + |∇u| dx = e(t) ≤ e(0) = (u1 )2 + |∇u0 |2 dx
2 Ω 2 Ω

which is finite since u0 and u1 are smooth on Ω. In particular this implies that for fixed t
we have ||∇u(t, ·)||L2 (Ω) < ∞. The desired results follows below from Poincaré’s inequality:

||u(t, ·)||L2 (Ω) ≤ C ||∇u(t, ·)||L2 (Ω) < ∞.