We discuss the self-similar solutions of the second kind associated with the propagation of turbulent bursts in a fluid at rest. Such solutions involve an eigenvalue parameter μ, which cannot be determined from dimensional analysis. Existence and uniqueness are established and the dependence of μ on a physical parameter λ in the problem is studied: estimates are obtained and the asymptotic behaviour as λ → ∞ is established.

The equation

is a possible dimensionless version of a model for the configuration of a very long strut resting on a nonlinear elastic foundation with axial loading P. By seeking to establish the existence of homoclinic orbits connecting the zero equilibrium of (*), now regarded as defining a four dimensional dynamical system, to itself one is pursuing the so-called ‘dynamical phase-space analogy’ for the spatial configuration suggested by the form of the equation. The existence of homoclinic solutions is then interpreted as indicating the presence of spatially localized buckling of the deformed strut.

We discuss a nonlinear diffusion equation in which the diffusivity has a non-local dependence on the surface concentration. Exact results are obtained for some special cases by means of similarity methods and non-local transformations. We indicate some of the implications the analysis has for more general cases.

We consider the two-dimensional quasi-steady Stokes flow of an incompressible Newtonian fluid occupying a time-dependent simply-connected region bounded by a free surface. The motion is driven by a constant surface tension acting at the free boundary so that, with the effects of gravity ignored, one expects the boundary to approach a circular form as time evolves. It is shown that, if at some initial instant the region occupied by the fluid is given by a rational conformal map of the unit disc, then it must retain this property as long as the region remains simply-connected. Moreover, its evolution may be described analytically; in simple cases this description is explicit, but in more complicated problems the numerical integration of a system of first order differential equations may be required.

The diffraction of a plane sound wave in a fluid by an adjacent elastic solid containing a surface flaw is analysed using ray techniques. By solving the eikonal equation with suitable boundary data, the pattern of the rays leaving the boundary and propagating into the fluid and solid respectively is established, with the corresponding amplitudes being furnished by the appropriate system of transport equations. For the acoustic and elastic cylindrical bulk waves that emanate from the flaw itself, the amplitude directivities cannot be found from this ray analysis alone.

Integral characteristics, such as elastic polarization matrices of elastic inclusions and cavities, are described. The matrix of elastic polarization of a finite cavity is constructed in the case of the two-dimensional Lamé operator under the assumption that the geometry of the domain occupied by the cavity is defined by a conformal mapping from the unit disk. Examples and applications of these integral characteristics in the theory of cracks are considered.

We discuss the one-phase Hele–Shaw problem in two space dimensions. We review exact solutions in the zero-surface-tension case, giving a unified account of the Schwarz function and conformal mapping approaches. We discuss the extension of the former method to the cases in which surface tension or ‘kinetic undercooling’ terms apply on the moving boundary, and we give some conjectures on the resulting singularity structure. Finally, we give a new interpretation of the linear stability analysis of the zero-surface-tension problem, and we suggest a possible regularization of ill-posed problems by the imposition of a unilateral constraint on the moving boundary.

This paper reviews the governing equations for a plane Hele–Shaw flow of a power-law fluid. We find two closely related partial differential equations, one for the pressure and one for the stream function. Some mathematical results for these equations are presented, in particular some exact solutions and a representation theorem. The results are applied to Hele–Shaw flow. It is then possible to determine the flow near an arbitrary corner for any power-law fluid. Other examples are also given.

We consider the initial value problem for the equation ut = uxx + H(u), where H is the Heaviside graph, on a bounded interval with Dirichlet boundary conditions, and discuss existence, regularity and uniqueness of solutions and interfaces.

It is shown that for a class of pairs of energy wells the only Young measures having these wells as support must reduce to spatially constant Dirac masses. This implies the prediction that fine structures will be absent in certain crystal phase transitions.

This paper solves a class of one-dimensional, dynamic elastoplasticity problems for equations which describe the longitudinal motion of a rod. The initial conditions U(x, 0) are continuous and piecewise linear, the derivative ∂U/∂x(x, 0) having just one jump at x = 0. Both the equations and the initial data are invariant under the scaling Ũ(x, t) = α−1U(αx, αt), where α > 0; hence the term scale-invariant. Both in underlying motivation and in solution, this problem is highly analogous to the Riemann problem from gas dynamics. These ideas are applied to the Sandler–Rubin example of non-unique solutions in dynamic plasticity with a nonassociative flow rule. We introduce an entropy condition that re-establishes uniqueness, but we also exhibit problems regarding existence.

In this paper we consider the numerical analysis of a parabolic variational inequality arising from a deep quench limit of a model for phase separation in a binary mixture due to Cahn and Hilliard. Stability, convergence and error bounds for a finite element approximation are proven. Numerical simulations in one and two space dimensions are presented.

We describe a specific measurement process that works well in practice for locating steel reinforcement bars in concrete. For the case that the total volume of these bars is small, we derive an approximate linear, but sufficiently accurate, mathematical model for which we can prove a uniqueness result.

We consider a well-known thermo-diffusive model for the propagation of a premixed, adiabatic flame front in the large-activation-energy limit. That model depends only on one nondimensional parameter β, the reduced Lewis number. Near the pulsating instability limit, as β↓β0= 32/3, we obtain an asymptotic model for the evolution of a quasi-planar flame front, via a multi-scale analysis. The asymptotic model consists of two complex Ginzburg–Landau equations and a real Burgers equation, coupled by non-local terms. The model is used to analyse the nonlinear stability of the flame front.

In this paper we investigate the mathematical model of the equilibrium of a finite volume in ℝn (n = 1,2, 3) of a two-phase continuous medium, under the assumption that each pure phase is an isotropic elastic solid. The main results in this paper are:

(i) the existence and uniqueness of a solution of this mathematical model;

(ii) a discussion of the stress-strain law associated with the free energy of this two-phase continuous medium, which is multiple-valued due to the non-smoothness of the Gibbs potential (complementary energy);

(iii) a description of the structure of solutions in plane strain.

In this paper, new non-classical symmetry reductions and exact solutions for the 2+1- dimensional, time-independent and time-dependent, dissipative Zabolotskaya-Khokhlov equations in both cartesian and cylindrical coordinates, are presented. These are obtained using the Direct Method, which was originally developed by Clarkson & Kruskal (1989) to study symmetry reductions of the Boussinesq equation, and which involves no group theoretic techniques. In particular, we derive exact solutions of these Zabolotskaya-Khokhlov equations expressible in terms of elementary functions, Weierstrass elliptic and zeta functions, Weber-Hermite functions and Airy functions. Additionally, it is shown that some previously known solutions of these equations actually arise from non-classical symmetries.

Bennett functions , (h, k), defined below and elsewhere, have been used extensively in Fourier analysing the output of certain devices such as rectifiers, limiters and other instantaneous modulators responding to a two-frequency input for which the output at time t depends only on the device input–output characteristic Y = Y(X) and the input at time t. Here, with the aid of a new set of modified Bennett functions , (h, k), these methods are extended to solve the same problems for non-instantaneous bang-bang controls with multivalued input–output characteristics Y = Y(X) and hence having memory.

We consider the equation of turbulent burst propagation

with m > 1 and k ≥ 0, or, in an equivalent formulation

We consider initial data u(x, 0) which are radially symmetric and have compact support; x = l(t) = r(T) describes the interface of the solution.