Consider the equation

where are linear positive continuous operators and f : Cloc(ℝ;ℝ) → Lloc(ℝ;ℝ) is a continuous operator satisfying the local Carathéodory conditions. Efficient conditions guaranteeing the existence of a global solution, which is bounded and non-negative in the neighbourhood of –∞, to the equation considered are established provided that ℓ0, ℓ1 and f are Volterra-type operators. The existence of a solution that is positive on the whole real line is discussed as well. Furthermore, the asymptotic properties of such solutions are studied in the neighbourhood of –∞. The results are applied to certain models appearing in the natural sciences.

The action of any group on itself by conjugation and the corresponding conjugacy relation play an important role in group theory. There have been many attempts to find notions of conjugacy in semigroups that would be useful in special classes of semigroups occurring in various areas of mathematics, such as semigroups of matrices, operator and topological semigroups, free semigroups, transition monoids for automata, semigroups given by presentations with prescribed properties, monoids of graph endomorphisms, etc. In this paper we study four notions of conjugacy for semigroups, their interconnections, similarities and dissimilarities. They appeared originally in various different settings (automata, representation theory, presentations, and transformation semigroups). Here we study them in full generality. The paper ends with a large list of open problems.

Bifurcation of non-radial solutions from radial solutions of a semilinear elliptic equation with negative exponent in expanding annuli of ℝ2 is studied. To obtain the main results, we use a blow-up argument via the Morse index of the regular entire solutions of the equation

The main results of this paper can be seen as applications of the results obtained recently for finite Morse index solutions of the equation

with N ⩾ 2 and p > 0.

The detection of the bifurcation set of polynomial mapping ℝn → ℝp, n ⩾ p, in more than two variables remains an unsolved problem. In this note we provide a solution for n = p + 1 ⩾ 3.

A closed curve flow on the 2-sphere evolved by a fourth-order nonlinear dispersive partial differential equation on the one-dimensional flat torus is studied. The governing equation arises in the field of physics in relation to the continuum limit of the Heisenberg spin chain systems or three-dimensional motion of the isolated vortex filament. The main result of the paper gives the local existence and uniqueness of a solution to the initial-value problem by overcoming loss of derivatives in the classical energy method and the absence of the local smoothing effect. The proof is based on the delicate analysis of the lower-order terms to find out the loss of derivatives and on the gauged energy method to eliminate the obstruction.

In this paper we use U(2), the group of 2 × 2 unitary matrices, to parametrize the space of all self-adjoint boundary conditions for a fixed Sturm–Liouville equation on the interval [0, 1]. The adjoint action of U(2) on itself naturally leads to a refined classification of self-adjoint boundary conditions – each adjoint orbit is a subclass of these boundary conditions. We give explicit parametrizations of those adjoint orbits of principal type, i.e. orbits diffeomorphic to the 2-sphere S2, and investigate the behaviour of the nth eigenvalue λnas a function on such orbits.

Let [An,k]n,k⩾0 be an infinite lower triangular array satisfying the recurrence

for n ⩾ 1 and k ⩾ 0, where A0,0 = 1, A0,k = Ak,–1 = 0 for k > 0. We present some criteria for the log-concavity of rows and strong q-log-convexity of generating functions of rows. Our results can be applied to many well-known triangular arrays, such as the Pascal triangle, the Stirling triangle of the second kind, the Bell triangle, the large Schröder triangle, the Motzkin triangle, and the Catalan triangles of Aigner and Shapiro, in a unified approach. In addition, we prove that the binomial transformation not only preserves the strong q-log-convexity property, but also preserves the strong q-log-concavity property. Finally, we demonstrate that the strong q-log-convexity property is preserved by the Stirling transformation and Whitney transformation of the second kind, which extends some known results for the strong q-log-convexity property.

In this paper we are interested in a sharp result about the global existence and blowup of solutions to a class of pseudo-parabolic equations. First, we represent a unique local weak solution in a new integral form that does not depend on any semigroup. Second, with the help of the Nehari manifold related to the stationary equation, we separate the whole space into two components S+ and S– via a new method, then a sufficient and necessary condition under which the weak solution blows up is established, that is, a weak solution blows up at a finite time if and only if the initial data belongs to S–. Furthermore, we study the decay behaviour of both the solution and the energy functional, and the decay ratios are given specifically.