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In this work, we investigate a class of quasilinear wave equations of Westervelt type with, in general, nonlocal-in-time dissipation. They arise as models of nonlinear sound propagation through complex media with anomalous diffusion of Gurtin–Pipkin type. Aiming at minimal assumptions on the involved memory kernels – which we allow to be weakly singular – we prove the well-posedness of such wave equations in a general theoretical framework. In particular, the Abel fractional kernels, as well as Mittag-Leffler-type kernels, are covered by our results. The analysis is carried out uniformly with respect to the small involved parameter on which the kernels depend and which can be physically interpreted as the sound diffusivity or the thermal relaxation time. We then analyze the behavior of solutions as this parameter vanishes, and in this way relate the equations to their limiting counterparts. To establish the limiting problems, we distinguish among different classes of kernels and analyze and discuss all ensuing cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work deals with the convergence analysis of parabolic perturbations to quasilinear wave equations on smooth bounded domains. In particular, we consider wave equations with nonlinearities of quadratic type, which cover the two classical models of nonlinear acoustics, the Westervelt and Kuznetsov equations. By employing a high-order energy analysis, we obtain convergence of their solutions to the corresponding inviscid equations' solutions in the standard energy norm with a linear rate, assuming small data and a sufficiently short time. The smallness of initial data can, however, be imposed in a lower-order norm than the one needed in the energy analysis. It arises only from ensuring the nondegeneracy of the studied wave equations. In addition, we address the open questions of local well-posedness of the two classical models on bounded domains with a nonnegative, possibly vanishing sound diffusivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The family of Jordan–Moore–Gibson–Thompson (JMGT) equations arises in nonlinear acoustics when a relaxed version of the heat flux law is employed within the system of governing equations of sound motion. Motivated by the propagation of sound waves in complex media with anomalous diffusion, we consider here a generalized class of such equations involving two (weakly) singular memory kernels in the principal and non-leading terms. To relate them to the second-order wave equations, we investigate their vanishing relaxation time behavior. The key component of this singular limit analysis are the uniform bounds for the solutions of these nonlinear equations of fractional type with respect to the relaxation time. Their availability turns out to depend not only on the regularity and coercivity properties of the two kernels, but also on their behavior relative to each other and the type of nonlinearity present in the equations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we consider nonlinear time periodic sound propagation according to the Westervelt equation, which is a classical model of nonlinear acoustics and a second order quasilinear strongly damped wave equation exhibiting potential degeneracy. We prove existence, uniqueness and regularity of solutions with time periodic forcing and time periodic initial-end conditions, on a bounded domain with absorbing boundary conditions. In order to mathematically recover the physical phenomenon of higher harmonics, we expand the solution as a superposition of contributions at frequencies that are multiples of a fundamental excitation frequency. This multiharmonic expansion is proven to converge, in appropriate function spaces, to the periodic solution in time domain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The damped wave equation with the attenuation proportional to velocity is ubiquitous in science and engineering and a common situation is when the attenuation depends on frequency. The usual way to incorporate this effect is to introduce fractional order derivatives either as a replacement for ut or as modifier through a spatial component with space fractional derivatives. Models for these are very well developed and the effort in this paper is towards the analysis of the inverse problem of recovering critical coefficients or initial states although we also develop constructive methods for these and analyse their degree of ill-conditioning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we consider the Jordan–Moore–Gibson–Thompson equation, a third-order in time wave equation describing the nonlinear propagation of sound that avoids the infinite signal speed paradox of classical second-order in time strongly damped models of nonlinear acoustics, such as the Westervelt and the Kuznetsov equation. We show well-posedness in an acoustic velocity potential formulation with and without gradient nonlinearity, corresponding to the Kuznetsov and the Westervelt nonlinearities, respectively. Moreover, we consider the limit as the parameter of the third-order time derivative that plays the role of a relaxation time tends to zero, which again leads to the classical Kuznetsov and Westervelt models. To this end, we establish appropriate energy estimates for the linearized equations and employ fixed-point arguments for well-posedness of the nonlinear equations. The theoretical results are illustrated by numerical experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work is concerned with the study of fundamental models from nonlinear acoustics. In Part I, a hierarchy of nonlinear damped wave equations arising in the description of sound propagation in thermoviscous fluids is deduced. In particular, a rigorous justification of two classical models, the Kuznetsov and Westervelt equations, retained as limiting systems for vanishing thermal conductivity and consistent initial data, is given. Numerical comparisons that confirm and complement the theoretical results are provided in Part II. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, we investigate the inverse problem of determining the kernel functions that best describe the mechanical behavior of a complex medium modeled by a general nonlocal viscoelastic wave equation. To this end, we minimize a tracking-type data misfit function under this PDE constraint. We perform the well-posedness analysis of the state and adjoint problems and, using these results, rigorously derive the first-order sensitivities. Numerical experiments in a three-dimensional setting illustrate the method. • Kernel recovery method for general nonlocal viscoelasticity. • Minimization of a tracking-type data misfit function governed by non-local viscoelastic wave equations. • Rigorous derivation of first-order sensitivities. • Numerical experiments in three-dimensional settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Photoacoustic tomography PAT with fractional attenuation, as relevant in ultrasonics. • Two key computational aspects: time stepping; adjoint based gradient computation. • Both tasks require special treatment of the fractional damping term. • Relevant more generally in inverse problems for fractionally damped wave equations. In this paper we consider the inverse problem of identifying the initial data in a fractionally damped wave equation from time trace measurements on a surface, as relevant in photoacoustic or thermoacoustic tomography. We derive and analyze a time stepping method for the numerical solution of the corresponding forward problem. Moreover, to efficiently obtain reconstructions by minimizing a Tikhonov regularization functional (or alternatively, by computing the MAP estimator in a Bayesian approach), we develop an adjoint based scheme for gradient computation. Numerical reconstructions in two space dimensions illustrate the performance of the devised methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We consider a third order in time equation which arises, e.g. as a model for wave propagation in viscous thermally relaxing fluids. This equation displays, even in the linear version, a variety of dynamical behaviors for its solution that depend on the physical parameters in the equation. These range from non-existence and instability to exponential stability (in time) as was shown for the constant coefficient case in Ref. 23. In case of vanishing diffusivity of the sound, there is a lack of generation of a semigroup associated with the linear dynamics. If diffusivity of the sound is positive, the linear dynamics is described by a strongly continuous hyperbolic-like evolution. This evolution is exponentially stable provided sufficiently large viscous damping is accounted for in the model. In this paper, we consider the full nonlinear model referred to as Jordan-Moore-Gibson-Thompson equation. This model can be seen as a "hyperbolic" version of Kuznetsov's equation, where the linearization of the latter corresponds to an analytic semigroup. This is no longer valid for the presently considered third-order model whose linearization is associated with a group structure. In order to carry out the analysis of the nonlinear model, we first consider time and space-dependent viscosity which then leads to evolution rather than semigroup generators. Decay rates for both "natural" and "higher" level energies are derived. Relevant physical parameters that are responsible for spectral behavior (continuous and point spectrum) are identified. The theoretical estimates proved in the paper are confirmed by numerical simulations. The derived energy estimates are then used in order to establish global well-posedness and exponential decay for the solutions to the nonlinear equation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various reports within the issue on topics including present recent advances in nonlinear acoustics, nonlinear wave equations, and decay rates of dissipative systems with weak dissipation.