Non-negative Martingale Solutions to the Stochastic Thin-Film Equation with Nonlinear Gradient Noise

We prove the existence of non-negative martingale solutions to a class of stochastic degenerate-parabolic fourth-order PDEs arising in surface-tension driven thin-film flow influenced by thermal noise. The construction applies to a range of mobilites including the cubic one which occurs under the assumption of a no-slip condition at the liquid-solid interface. Since their introduction more than 15 years ago, by Davidovitch, Moro, and Stone and by Grün, Mecke, and Rauscher, the existence of solutions to stochastic thin-film equations for cubic mobilities has been an open problem, even in the case of sufficiently regular noise. Our proof of global-in-time solutions relies on a careful combination of entropy and energy estimates in conjunction with a tailor-made approximation procedure to control the formation of shocks caused by the nonlinear stochastic scalar conservation law structure of the noise.

Strong bounded variation estimates for the multi--dimensional finite volume approximation of scalar conservation laws and application to a tumour growth model

A uniform bounded variation estimate for finite volume approximations of the nonlinear scalar conservation law $\partial_t \alpha + \mathrm{div}(\boldsymbol{u}f(\alpha)) = 0$ in two and three spatial dimensions with an initial data of bounded variation is established. We assume that the divergence of the velocity $\mathrm{div}(\boldsymbol{u})$ is of bounded variation instead of the classical assumption that $\mathrm{div}(\boldsymbol{u})$ is zero. The finite volume schemes analysed in this article are set on nonuniform Cartesian grids. A uniform bounded variation estimate for finite volume solutions of the conservation law $\partial_t \alpha + \mathrm{div}(\boldsymbol{F}(t,\boldsymbol{x},\alpha)) = 0$, where $\mathrm{div}_{\boldsymbol{x}}\boldsymbol{F} \not=0$ on nonuniform Cartesian grids is also proved. Such an estimate provides compactness for finite volume approximations in $L^p$ spaces, which is essential to prove the existence of a solution for a partial differential equation with nonlinear terms in $\alpha$, when the uniqueness of the solution is not available. This application is demonstrated by establishing the existence of a weak solution for a model that describes the evolution of initial stages of breast cancer proposed by S. J. Franks et al.~\cite{Franks2003424}. The model consists of four coupled variables: tumour cell concentration, tumour cell velocity--pressure, and nutrient concentration, which are governed by a hyperbolic conservation law, viscous Stokes system, and Poisson equation, respectively.

L2-type contraction of viscous shocks for scalar conservation laws

We study small shocks of 1D scalar viscous conservation laws with uniformly convex flux and nonlinear dissipation. We show that such shocks are [Formula: see text] stable independently of the strength of the dissipation, even with large perturbations. The proof uses the relative entropy method with a spatially-inhomogeneous pseudo-norm.