Nonlinear Analysis 95 (2014) 691–702

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Nonlinear Analysis
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/na

Cauchy problem of a nonlocal p-Laplacian evolution equation

with nonlocal convectionI
Jiebao Sun a,⇤ , Jing Li b , Qiang Liu c
a
Department of Mathematics, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China
b
College of Science, Minzu University of China, Beijing 100081, China
c
College of Mathematics and Computational Science, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China

article info abstract

Article history:
This paper is concerned with the Cauchy problem of a nonlocal equation that takes into
Received 16 June 2013
Accepted 21 September 2013 account convective and p-Laplacian diffusive effects
Communicated by Enzo Mitidieri
Z
@u
( x, t ) = J (x y)|u(y, t ) u(x, t )|p 2
(u(y, t ) u(x, t ))dy
Keywords: @t RN
Nonlocal p-Laplacian + (G ⇤ f (u) f (u))(x, t )
Nonlocal convection
Radially symmetric with J radially symmetric and G not necessarily symmetric. First, we prove the existence
Existence and uniqueness and uniqueness of solutions, and if the convolution kernels J and G are rescaled appro-
Asymptotic behavior priately, we show that solutions of the nonlocal problem converge to the solution of the
usual p-Laplacian diffusion equation with convection. Finally, as a supplementary result,
we study the asymptotic behavior of solutions as t ! 1 and give the decay estimate.
© 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction

In this paper we analyze the following nonlocal p-Laplacian diffusion equation with nonlocal convection
Z
@u
(x, t ) = J (x y)|u(y, t ) u(x, t )|p 2
(u(y, t ) u(x, t ))dy + (G ⇤ f (u) f (u))(x, t ),
@t RN

t > 0, x 2 R N , (1)
u(x, 0) = u0 (x), x 2 RN . (2)
1 N 1 N q 1
Here u0 2 L (R ) \ L (R ), 2 R p < +1, f (Ru) = |u| u with q 1 and the functions J and G with compact support are
nonnegative, smooth and verify RN J (x)dx = RN G(x)dx = 1, J is radially symmetric and G is not necessarily symmetric.
Recently, nonlocal diffusion processes have attracted many people’s attention in the literature. Nonlocal evolution equa-
tions of the form ut = J ⇤ u u and variations of it have been recently widely used to model diffusion processes. More pre-
cisely, as stated in [1], if u(x, t ) is thought of as a density at the point x at time t, and J (x y) is thought of as the probability
distribution of jumping from location y to location x, then J ⇤ u(x, t ) is the rate at which individuals are arriving at position x
from all other places and u(x, t ) is the rate at which they are leaving location x to travel to all other sites. This consideration,

I This work is partially supported by the National Science Foundation of China (11271100, 11126222, 11301113, 11201502), the Fundamental Research
Funds for the Central Universities (Grant No. HIT. NSRIF. 2011006, 1112KYQN36) and also the Financial Support from Postdoctoral Science-Research
Developmental Foundation of Heilongjiang Province (LBH-Q11111).
⇤ Corresponding author. Tel.: +86 45186402408.
E-mail address: sunjiebao@hit.edu.cn (J. Sun).

0362-546X/$ – see front matter © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.na.2013.09.023
692 J. Sun et al. / Nonlinear Analysis 95 (2014) 691–702

in the absence of external or internal sources, leads immediately to the fact that the density u satisfies the equation ut = J ⇤ u
u. For recent references on nonlocal diffusion, see [2–7,1,8]. These type of problems have been used to model very different
applied situations, for example in biology [4,9], image processing [10,11], particle systems [12], coagulation models [13], etc.
While among the nonlinear nonlocal problems, the nonlocal p-Laplacian evolution has attracted much attention, it leads
to a family of discrete nonlinear filtering tasks such as smoothing, denoising and simplification (see [14–18]). Based on
nonlinear semigroup theory, it is studied for abounded domain in [19] with Neumann boundary conditions and in [20] with
nonhomogeneous Dirichlet boundary conditions. Moreover, the asymptotic behavior of solutions is studied in [21,22].
In the Eq. (1), we have a diffusion operator
Z
J (x y)|u(y, t ) u(x, t )|p 2
(u(y, t ) u(x, t ))dy
RN
and a nonlinear convective part given by
G ⇤ f (u) f (u).
The diffusion part with diffusion coefficient depending on the density difference between x and y is nonlocal analogous to
the p-Laplacian evolution which is a typical model of nonlinear diffusion. Concerning the last term, if G is not symmetric then
individuals have greater probability of jumping in one direction that in others, provoking a convective effect. This equation
is a nonlocal analogous problem to the usual p-Laplacian diffusion equation with convection
@u
(x, t ) = div(|r u(x, t )|p 2 r u(x, t )) + b · r f (u(x, t )),
@t
whose global existence and gradient estimates are obtained in [23].
Our main goal in this paper is to study the nonlocal equation (1)–(2). For p = 2, it was studied in [24], where the main
tool used to obtain the results is the explicit formula for the solution obtained via the Fourier transform. However, the use
of Fourier variables seems not to be appropriate in our case due to the presence of the nonlinear diffusion term.
This paper is arranged as follows. In Section 2, we prove the existence and uniqueness of solutions, and subsequently, in
Section 3, we show that the solutions of the nonlocal problem converge to the solution of the usual p-Laplacian diffusion
equation with convection if the convolution kernels J and G are rescaled appropriately. Furthermore, as a supplementary
result, we study the asymptotic behavior of solutions as t ! 1 and give the decay estimate.
First, let us state the precise definition of solutions.

Definition 1.1. A function u 2 C ([0, T ]; L1 (RN )) \ L1 ((0, T ); L1 (RN )) \ H 1 ((0, T ); L2 (RN )) is called a solution of (1)–(2),
if u(x, 0) = u0 (x), a.e. x 2 RN and
Z
@u
( x, t ) = J (x y)|u(y, t ) u(x, t )|p 2
(u(y, t ) u(x, t ))dy + (G ⇤ f (u) f (u))(x, t ) a.e. in RN ⇥ (0, T ).
@t RN

Our first result shows the existence and uniqueness of global solutions of this problem.

Theorem 1.1. Let u0 2 L1 (RN ) \ L1 (RN ). There exists a unique solution of (1)–(2) in the sense of Definition 1.1.
Our next step is to rescale the kernels J and G appropriately and take the limit as the scaling parameter goes to zero. To
p 2
be more precise, under the assumption that q 1 + 2p , we can obtain a solution of the p-Laplacian evolution equation
with convection
@u
(x, t ) = div(|r u(x, t )|p 2 r u(x, t )) + b · r f (u(x, t )), t > 0, x 2 RN , (3)
@t
u(x, 0) = u0 (x), x 2 RN (4)
as the limit of solutions of (1)–(2) when a scaling parameter goes to zero. In fact, let us consider
C J ,p ⇣ s ⌘ 1 ⇣s⌘
J" (s) = N J , G" (s) = N G
" " " "
with Z
1
CJ ,p1 = J (z )|zN |p dz ,
2 RN
which is a normalizing constant, in order to obtain the p-Laplacian in the limit instead of a multiple of it. Then we consider
the solutions u" (x, t ) to our rescaled nonlocal p-Laplacian equation with nonlocal convection
Z
@ u" 1
( x, t ) = p J" (x y)|u" (y, t ) u" (x, t )|p 2
(u" (y, t ) u" (x, t ))dy
@t " RN
1
+ (G↵" ⇤ f (u" ) f (u" ))(x, t ), t > 0, x 2 R N , (5)
↵"
u" (x, 0) = u0 (x), x 2 RN , (6)
where ↵ is a positive constant such that suppG↵ ⇢ suppJ.
 J. Sun et al. / Nonlinear Analysis 95 (2014) 691–702 693

We prove in this paper the convergence R of u" to the solution of the local p-Laplacian evolution equation with convection
(3)–(4), where b = (b1 , . . . , bN ), bj = RN xj G↵ (x)dx for 1  j  N.

p 2
Theorem 1.2. Assume q 1+ 2p
and u0 2 L1 (RN ) \ L1 (RN ) \ W 1,p (RN ). For any T > 0, we have

lim sup ku" ukLp (RN ) = 0,

"!0 t 2[0,T ] loc

where u(x, t ) is the unique solution of the local p-Laplacian equation with convection (3)–(4). Furthermore, if p > N, then
lim sup ku" ukLp (RN ) = 0.
"!0 t 2[0,T ]

This result justifies the use of the name ‘‘nonlocal p-Laplacian evolution equation with nonlocal convection’’ when we
refer to (1).
Concerning the long time behavior of the solutions we have the following result.

Theorem 1.3. Assume 2  p < N and u0 2 L1 (RN ) \ L1 (RN ). For any 1  m < 1 the solution to (1)–(2) verifies
⇣ ⌘⇣ ⌘
N 1
1
ku(·, t )kLm (RN )  Ct N (p 2)+p m

for all t sufficiently large.

2. Existence and uniqueness

In this section we deal with the existence and uniqueness for solutions of (1)–(2).
Fix t0 > 0 and consider the Banach space
Xt0 = C ([0, t0 ]; L1 (RN )) \ L1 ((0, t0 ); L1 (RN ))
with the norm
|||w||| = sup (kw(·, t )kL1 (RN ) + kw(·, t )kL1 (RN ) ).
t 2[0,t0 ]

We will obtain the solution of (1)–(2) as a fixed point of the operator Tu0 : Xt0 ! Xt0 defined by
Z tZ
Tu0 (u(x, t )) = u0 (x) + J (x y)|u(y, s) u(x, s)|p 2
(u(y, s) u(x, s))dyds
0 RN
Z t
+ (G ⇤ f (u) f (u))(x, s)ds. (7)
0

Proof of Theorem 1.1. Let M = 2 max{ku0 kL1 (RN ) , ku0 kL1 (RN ) }. First we check that there exists t0 > 0, such that Tu0 maps
from {u 2 Xt0 ; |||u|||  M } into itself. From (7) we see that

kTu0 (w(·, t )) u0 kL1 (RN ) + kTu0 (w(·, t )) u0 kL1 (RN )  Ct (M p 1

+ f (M )),
which implies that for any t > 0, Tu0 (w(·, t )) 2 L1 (RN ) \ L1 (RN ) and there exists t0 > 0 such that when t 2 [0, t0 ],
|||Tu0 (w)|||  M.
Furthermore, let u0 , v0 be nonnegative functions such that u0 , v0 2 L1 (RN ) \ L1 (RN ) and u, v 2 Xt0 , then for any
t 2 [0, t0 ], we obtain
Z
|Tu0 (u(x, t )) Tv0 (v(x, t ))|dx
RN
Z Z tZ
⇥
 ku0 v0 kL1 (RN ) + J (x y) |u(y, s) u(x, s)|p 2
(u(y, s) u(x, s))
RN 0 RN

⇤
|v(y, s) v(x, s)|p 2 (v(y, s) v(x, s)) dyds dx
Z Z tZ
+ G(x y)[(f (u(y, s)) f (v(y, s))) (f (u(x, s)) f (v(x, s)))]dyds dx
RN 0 RN
Z
 ku0 v0 kL1 (RN ) + Ct sup |u(x, s) v(x, s)|dx
[0,t ] RN
694 J. Sun et al. / Nonlinear Analysis 95 (2014) 691–702

and
sup |Tu0 (u(x, t )) Tv0 (v(x, t ))|
RN
Z tZ h
 ku0 v0 kL1 (RN ) + sup J (x y) |u(y, s) u(x, s)|p 2
(u(y, s) u(x, s))
RN 0 RN
i
|v(y, s) v(x, s)|p 2 (v(y, s) v(x, s)) dyds
Z tZ
+ sup G(x y)[f (u(y, s)) f (v(y, s)) f (u(x, s)) + f (v(x, s))]dyds
RN 0 RN

 ku0 v0 kL1 (RN ) + Ct sup |u(x, s) v(x, s)|.

RN ⇥[0,t ]

Choose t0 > 0 such that Ct0 < 1. Now taking u0 = v0 , from the above two estimates, we get that Tu0 is a strict contraction
in {u 2 Xt0 ; |||u|||  M } and the existence and uniqueness part of the theorem follows from Banach’s fixed point theorem in
the interval [0, t0 ].
To prove the global existence of solutions we have to guarantee that both L1 (RN ) and L1 (RN )-norms of the solutions do
not blow up in finite time.
First we give the control of L1 -norm. We multiply the Eq. (1) by sgn(u(x, t )) and integrate in RN to obtain the following
estimate:
Z Z Z
d
|u(x, t )|dx = J (x y)|u(y, t ) u(x, t )|p 2
(u(y, t ) u(x, t ))sgn(u(x, t ))dydx
dt RN RN RN
Z Z
+ G(x y)(f (u(y, t )) f (u(x, t )))sgn(u(x, t ))dydx
N N
Z RZ R
 J (x y)|u(y, t ) u(x, t )|p 2 (|u(y, t )| |u(x, t )|)dydx
RN R N
Z Z
+ G(x y)(|f (u(y, t ))| |f (u(x, t ))|)dydx
RN RN
= 0,
which shows that the L1 -norm does not increase.
Now we give the control of L1 -norm. Let us denote m = ku0 kL1 (RN ) . Multiplying Eq. (1) by sgn(u(x, t ) m)+ and
integrating in RN , we get
Z
d
(u(x, t ) m)+ dx = I1 (t ) + I2 (t ),
dt RN

where
Z Z
I1 = J (x y)|u(y, t ) u(x, t )|p 2
(u(y, t ) u(x, t ))sgn(u(x, t ) m)+ dydx
RN RN

and
Z
I2 = (G ⇤ f (u) f (u))(x, t )sgn(u(x, t ) m)+ dx.
RN

We claim that both I1 and I2 are negative. Thus (u(x, t ) m)+ = 0 a.e. x 2 RN and then u(x, t )  m for all t > 0 and a.e.
x 2 RN . In the case of I1 ,
Z Z
J (x y)|u(y, t ) u(x, t )|p 2
(u(y, t ) u(x, t ))sgn(u(x, t ) m)+ dydx
RN RNZ Z
1
= J (x y)|u(y, t ) u(x, t )|p 2
(u(y, t ) u(x, t ))dydx
2 u(x,t )>m RN
Z Z
1
J (x y)|u(y, t ) u(x, t )|p 2
(u(y, t ) u(x, t ))dydx
2 RN u(y,t )>m
Z Z
1
 J (x y)|u(y, t ) u(x, t )|p 2
(u(y, t ) u(x, t ))dydx
2 u(x,t )>m u(y,t )>m
Z Z
1
J (x y)|u(y, t ) u(x, t )|p 2
(u(y, t ) u(x, t ))dydx
2 u(x,t )>m u(y,t )>m
= 0.
 J. Sun et al. / Nonlinear Analysis 95 (2014) 691–702 695

In the case of I2 , we have

Z
((G ⇤ f (u) f (u))(x, t ))sgn(u(x, t ) m)+ dx
RN
Z Z
= G(x y)(f (u(y, t )) f (u(x, t )))dydx
u(x,t )>m RN
Z Z Z Z
= G(x y)[f (u(y, t )) f (m)]dydx + G(x y)f (m)dydx
u(x,t )>m RN u(x,t )>m RN
Z Z
G(x y)f (u(x, t ))dydx
u(x,t )>m RN
Z Z Z Z
 G(x y)[f (u(y, t )) f (m)]dydx + f (m)dx f (u(x, t ))dx
RN u(y,t )>m u(x,t )>m u(x,t )>m

= 0.
In a similar way, we get
Z
d
(u(x, t ) + m) dx  0,
dt RN

which implies that u(x, t ) m for all t > 0 and a.e. x 2 RN . We conclude that ku(·, t )kL1 (RN )  ku0 kL1 (RN ) .
To extend the solution to [0, 1) we may take as initial datum u(x, t0 ) 2 L1 (RN )\ L1 (RN ) and obtain a solution in [0, 2t0 ].
Iterating this procedure we get a solution defined in [0, 1).
Our next aim is to prove the uniqueness of global solutions. Let us consider u and v two solutions corresponding to initial
data u0 and v0 , respectively. We will prove that for any t > 0 the following holds
Z
d
|u(x, t ) v(x, t )|dx  0. (8)
dt RN

To this end, we multiply by sgn(u(x, t ) v(x, t )) the equation satisfied by u v and using the symmetry of J, the positivity
of J and G and that their mass equals one we obtain,
Z Z Z
d
|u(x, t ) v(x, t )|dx  J (x y)[|u(y, t ) u(x, t )|p 2
(u(y, t ) u(x, t ))
dt RN RN RN

|v(y, t ) v(x, t )|p 2 (v(y, t ) v(x, t ))]sgn(u(x, t ) v(x, t ))dyds

Z Z
+ G(x y)[(f (u(y, t )) f (v(y, t ))) (f (u(x, t )) f (v(x, t )))]sgn(u(x, t ) v(x, t ))dydx
RN RN

 0.
Thus we get the uniqueness of the solutions. This ends the proof of Theorem 1.1. ⇤

3. Convergence to the local problem

In this section we prove the convergence of solutions of the nonlocal problem to the solution of the local p-Laplacian
evolution equation with convection when we rescale the kernels and let the scaling parameter go to zero.
Firstly, we give a proposition which is important for the proof of Theorem 1.2.

Proposition 3.1. Let {u"n } be a sequence of functions in C ([0, T ]; L1 (RN )) \ L1 ((0, T ); L1 (RN )) such that
Z T Z Z
1
J (z )|u"n (x + "n z , t ) u"n (x, t )|p dzdxdt  C . (9)
"np 0 RN RN

If {u"n } weakly converge in Lp ((0, T ); Lp (RN )) to u, then u 2 Lp ((0, T ); W 1,p (RN )), and moreover
u"n (x + "n z , t ) u"n (x, t )
(J (z ))1/p * (J (z ))1/p z · r u
"n
in Lp (RN ) ⇥ Lp ((0, T ); Lp (RN )).
Proof. This proposition can be proved by the same method as that for the first statement of Proposition 3.2 in [19], which
is given for bounded domains in RN ⇥ RN but also holds for [0, T ] ⇥ RN ⇥ RN . Here, we prove it again to be integrated.
696 J. Sun et al. / Nonlinear Analysis 95 (2014) 691–702

If ', 2 C01 (RN ), and ⇢ 2 C 1 [0, T ], then

Z TZ Z
u"n (x + "n z , t ) u"n (x, t )
(J (z ))1/p '(x)dx (z )dz ⇢(t )dt
0 RN RN "n
Z TZ Z
1/p '(x, t ) '(x "n z , t )
= (J (z )) u"n (x, t )dx (z )dz ⇢(t )dt . (10)
0 R N R N "n
By (9), up to a subsequence,
u"n (x + "n z , t ) u"n (x, t )
(J (z ))1/p * (J (z ))1/p g (x, z , t )
"n
weakly in Lp (RN ) ⇥ Lp ((0, T ); Lp (RN )). Therefore, passing to the limit in (10), we obtain
Z T Z Z T Z
g (x, z , t )'(x)dx⇢(t )dt = u(x, t )z · r'(x)dx⇢(t )dt 8z 2 int(supp(J )).
0 RN 0 RN

From here, for s small,

Z T Z Z T Z
@
g (x, sei , t )'(x)dx⇢(t )dt = u(x, t )s '(x)dx⇢(t )dt ,
0 RN 0 RN @ xi
which implies u 2 Lp ((0, T ); W 1,p (RN )) and (J (z ))1/p g (x, z , t ) = (J (z ))1/p z · r u(x, t ).

Proposition 3.2. Assume J (x) J (y) if |x|  |y|. Let {u"n } be a sequence of functions in C ([0, T ]; L1 (RN ))\ L1 ((0, T ); L1 (RN ))
such that
Z Z
1
sup J (z )|u"n (x + "n z , t ) u"n (x, t )|p dzdx  C , (11)
t 2[0,T ] "np RN RN

and
Z T Z ✓ ◆2
@ u"n
(x, t ) dxdt  C . (12)
0 RN @t
p
Then there exists a subsequence of {u"n }, supposed to be {u"n } itself, such that u"n ! u in C ([0, T ], Lloc (RN )).
Proof. Noticing that for any t 2 [0, T ],
1
Z Z nu imi e clar de ce e imediat
J (z )|u"n (x + "n z , t ) u"n (x, t )|p dzdx  C .
" p
n RN RN
din cor 4
p
From the second statement of Proposition 3.2 in [19], u"n (·, t ) is relatively compact in Lloc (RN ). Then from the estimates (11)
p
and (12), the compactness of u"n in C ([0, T ], Lloc (RN )) follows by Corollary 4 in [25].
Now we give the proof of Theorem 1.2. That is, to prove the convergence of solutions of the nonlocal problem to the
solution of the local p-Laplacian evolution equation with convection.
Proof of Theorem 1.2. First, we consider u" the solution of the problem (5)–(6). Since for any t 2 [0, T ], ku" (·, t )kL1 (RN ) 
ku0 kL1 (RN ) , ku" (·, t )kL1 (RN )  ku0 kL1 (RN ) , there exists a sequence "n ! 0 such that
u"n * u in Lp (RN ⇥ (0, T )).
For " > 0, we have
Z T Z Z TZ Z
@ u" 1
(x, t )v(x, t )dxdt = p J" (x y)|u" (y, t ) u" (x, t )|p 2
(u" (y, t ) u" (x, t ))v(x, t )dydxdt
0 RN @ t " 0 RN R N
Z TZ
1
+ (G↵" ⇤ f (u" ) f (u" ))(x, t )v(x, t )dxdt (13)
↵" 0 RN
for every v 2 L2 (RN ⇥ (0, T )). Changing variables, we can rewrite (13) as
Z T Z Z T Z Z
@ u" C J ,p
(x, t )v(x, t )dxdt = J (z )|u" (x + " z , t ) u" (x, t )|p 2
(u" (x + "z , t ) u" (x, t ))
0 RN @t 2" p 0 RN RN
Z T Z Z
1
· (v(x + " z , t ) v(x, t ))dzdxdt + G↵ ( z )(f (u" (x + " z , t )) f (u" (x, t )))v(x, t )dzdxdt . (14)
" 0 RN RN
 J. Sun et al. / Nonlinear Analysis 95 (2014) 691–702 697

Taking " = "n and v = u"n in (14), noticing that

Z T Z Z
G↵ ( z )(f (u"n (x + "n z , t )) f (u"n (x, t )))u"n (x, t )dzdxdt  0,
0 RN RN

we obtain
Z T Z Z
C J ,p
p J (z )|u"n (x + "n z , t ) u"n (x, t )|p dzdxdt  C , (15)
2"n 0 RN RN

where C = ku0 kL2 (RN ) .

@u
Next, if we take " = "n and v = @ "t n in (14), by Young’s inequality, we get
Z T Z ✓ ◆2 Z Z
@ u"n C J ,p
(x, t ) dxdt + p J (z )|u"n (x + "n z , T ) u"n (x, T )|p dzdx
0 RN @t 2p"n RN RN
Z Z
CJ ,p
= p J (z )|u0 (x + "n z , t ) u0 (x, t )|p dzdx
2p"n RN RN
Z T Z Z
1 @ u"n
+ G↵ ( z )(f (u"n (x + "n z , t )) f (u"n (x, t ))) (x, t )dzdxdt . (16)
"n 0 RN RN @t
Changing variables, integrating by parts, we obtain
Z T Z Z
1 @ u"n
G↵ ( z )(f (u"n (x + "n z , t )) f (u"n (x, t ))) (x, t )dzdxdt
"n 0 RN RN @t
Z T Z Z
1 @
= G↵ ( z )f (u"n (x, t )) u"n (x "n z , t ) u"n (x, t ) dzdxdt
"n RN RN @t
Z0 Z
1
= G↵ ( z )f (u"n (x, T )) u"n (x "n z , T ) u"n (x, T ) dzdx
"n RN RN
Z Z
1
G↵ ( z )f (u"n (x, 0)) u"n (x "n z , 0) u"n (x, 0) dzdx
"n RN RN
Z T Z Z
1 @ f (u"n (x, t ))
G↵ ( z ) u"n (x "n z , t ) u"n (x, t ) dzdxdt . (17)
"n 0 RN RN @t
Then noticing
Z Z
1
G↵ ( z )f (u"n (x, T )) u"n (x "n z , T ) u"n (x, T ) dzdx  0,
"n RN RN

and using Young’s inequality, we obtain

Z T Z Z
1 @ u"n
G↵ ( z )(f (u"n (x + "n z , t )) f (u"n (x, t ))) (x, t )dzdxdt
"n 0 RN RN @t
Z Z
1
 G↵ ( z )f (u"n (x, 0)) u"n (x "n z , 0) u"n (x, 0) dzdx
"n RN RN
Z T Z Z
1 2
+ G↵ ( z )(f 0 (u"n (x, t )))2 u"n (x "n z , t ) u"n (x, t ) dzdxdt
2"n2 0 RN RN
Z T Z ✓ ◆2
1 @ u"n (x, t )
+ dxdt . (18)
2 0 RN @t
p 2
Notice that suppG↵ ⇢ suppJ, ku" (·, t )kL1 (RN )  ku0 kL1 (RN ) , f (s) = |s|q 1
s(q 1+ 2p
). From (15), if p = 2, we obtain
Z T Z Z
1 2
G↵ ( z )(f 0 (u"n (x, t )))2 u"n (x "n z , t ) u"n (x, t ) dzdxdt
2"n2 0 RN RN
Z T Z Z
G↵ ( z ) 2 1
 sup sup f 0 (u"n (x, t )) · J (z )(u"n (x + "n z , t ) u"n (x, t ))2 dzdxdt
z 2RN J (z ) (x,t )2RN ⇥[0,T ] 2"n2 0 RN RN

 C. (19)
698 J. Sun et al. / Nonlinear Analysis 95 (2014) 691–702

p 2
While if p > 2, noticing q 1+ 2p
, then 2p(q 1)/(p 2) 1 and
Z T Z Z
1 2
G↵ ( z )(f 0 (u"n (x, t )))2 u"n (x "n z , t ) u"n (x, t ) dzdxdt (20)
2"n2 0 RN RN
Z T Z Z
1
 J (z )|u"n (x + "n z , t ) u"n (x, t )|p dzdxdt (21)
"np 0 RN RN
Z T Z Z ✓ ◆1/(p 2)
2p(q 1)/(p 2) G↵ ( z )p
+ |u"n (x, t )| dxdt · dz  C . (22)
0 RN RN (J (z ))2
Thus from (16)–(21), noticing u0 2 L1 (RN ) \ L1 (RN ) \ W 1,p (RN ), we have
Z T Z ✓ ◆2
@ u"n
(x, t ) dxdt  C (23)
0 RN @t
and
Z Z
1
sup J (z )|u"n (x + "n z , t ) u"n (x, t )|p dzdx  C . (24)
t 2[0,T ] "np RN RN

From (23), and (24), by Proposition 3.2, there exists a subsequence of {u"n }, suppose to be {u"n } itself, such that
p
u"n ! u in C ([0, T ]; Lloc (RN ))

with u 2 Lp ((0, T ); W 1,p (RN )) \ H 1 ((0, T ); L2 (RN )), and

@ u"n @u
(x, t ) * (x, t )
@t @t
in L2 ((0, T ); L2 (RN )).
Furthermore, for p > N, let us prove now the tightness of {u"n }, which is to say, that no mass moves to infinity as n ! 1.
For this, choose S > 0 and denote R = S /3. Select a smooth function ' 2 C 1 (RN ) such that 0  '  1, ' ⌘ 0 on BR (0),
' ⌘ 1 on RN \ BS (0) and |r'|  2S . Taking " = "n and v = '|u"n |p 2 u"n in (14), we have
Z T Z
@|u"n (x, t )|p
'(x)dxdt
0 RN @t
Z TZ Z
C J ,p
= J (z )|u"n (x + "n z , t ) u"n (x, t )|p 2
(u"n (x + "n z , t ) u"n (x, t ))
2"n p 0 RN RN
· |u"n (x + "n z , t )|p 2 u"n (x + "n z , t )'(x + "n z ) |u"n (x, t )|p 2 u"n (x, t )'(x) dzdxdt
Z TZ Z
1
+ G↵ ( z )(f (u" (x + "n z , t )) f (u"n (x, t ))) · |u"n (x, t )|p 2 u"n (x, t )'(x)dzdxdt .
"n 0 R N R N
Z TZ Z
CJ ,p
 J (z )|u"n (x + "n z , t ) u"n (x, t )|p 2 (u"n (x + "n z , t ) u"n (x, t ))
2"n p 0 RN RN
· |u"n (x + "n z , t )|p 2 u"n (x + "n z , t ) ('(x + "n z ) '(x)) dzdxdt .
Having in mind that

sup ku"n kL1 (RN )  ku0 kL1 (RN ) ,

t 2[0,T ]

and assuming that supp(J ) = B1 (0), we get

Z Z
|up"n (x, t )|'(x)dx |up0 (x)|'(x)dx
RN RN
Z T Z Z
CJ ,p
 J (z )|u"n (x + "n z , t ) u"n (x, t )|p 1
· |u"n (x + "n z , t )|p 1
|'(x + "n z ) '(x)| dzdxdt
2"n p 0 RN B1 (0)
p 1 Z T Z Z p 1
CJ ,p ku0 kL1 u"n (x + "n z , t ) u"n (x, t )
 J (z ) dzdxdt
S 0 |x|S +1 B1 (0) "n
 J. Sun et al. / Nonlinear Analysis 95 (2014) 691–702 699

p 1 ✓Z T Z Z p ◆1 1/p
CJ ,p ku0 kL1 u"n (x + "n z , t ) u"n (x, t )
 J (z ) dzdxdt
S 0 |x|S +1 B1 (0) "n
✓Z T Z Z ◆1/p
· J (z )dzdxdt
0 |x|S +1 B1 (0)
⇣ ⌘
1+ Np
=O S .

Consequently, if p > N,
Z Z ⇣ ⌘
1+ Np
|up"n (x, t )|'(x)dx  |up0 (x)|dx + O S .
| x| S |x| S /3

Therefore, noticing u0 2 W 1,p (RN ),

Z
|up"n (x, t )|'(x)dx ! 0 as S ! 1
| x| S

uniformly in "n and T and then

u"n ! u in C ([0, T ]; Lp (RN )).
In what follows we need only to verify that u is the solution of (3)–(4). First, noticing (15), by Proposition 3.1, we have
u 2 Lp ([0, T ]; W 1,p (RN )) and
✓ ◆1/p ✓ ◆1/p
1 u"n (x + "n z , t ) u"n (x, t ) 1
J (z ) * J (z ) z · r u(x) (25)
2 "n 2

in Lp (RN ) ⇥ Lp ((0, T ); Lp (RN )). Moreover, we can also assume that

p 2
u"n (x + "n z , t ) u"n (x, t ) u"n (x + "n z , t ) u"n (x, t )
* (z , x, t )
"n "n
0 0 0
in Lp (RN ) ⇥ Lp ((0, T ); Lp (RN )). Therefore,
Z T Z Z
C J ,p
p J (z )|u"n (x + "n z , t ) u"n (x, t )|p 2
(u"n (x + "n z , t ) u"n (x, t )) · (v(x + "n z , t ) v(x, t ))dzdxdt
2"n 0 RN RN
Z T Z Z
C J ,p
! J (z ) (z , x, t )z · rv(x, t )dzdxdt as "n ! 0 (26)
2 0 RN RN

for every v 2 C01 (RN ⇥ [0, T ]).

Let us see now that
Z T Z Z Z T Z
CJ ,p
J (z ) (z , x, t )z · rv(x, t )dzdxdt = |r u(x, t )|p 2 r u(x, t ) · rv(x, t )dxdt . (27)
2 0 RN RN 0 RN

In fact, taking " = "n and v = u"n in (14) and v = u in (26), we have
Z T Z Z Z T Z Z
1
lim sup J (z )|u"n (x + "n z , t ) u"n (x, t )|p dzdxdt  J (z ) (z , x, t )z · r u(x, t )dzdxdt . (28)
n "np 0 RN RN 0 RN RN

Furthermore, noticing for every ⇢ smooth,

Z T Z Z ✓ ◆
x y
J |⇢(y, t ) ⇢(x, t )|p 2 (⇢(y, t ) ⇢(x, t ))(u"n (x, t ) ⇢(x, t ))dydxdt
0 RN R N "n
Z TZ Z ✓ ◆
x y
J |u"n (y, t ) u"n (x, t )|p 2
(u"n (y, t ) u"n (x, t )) · (u"n (x, t ) ⇢(x, t ))dydxdt .
0 RN RN "n
y x
Using the change of variables z = " and taking limits, on account of (25) and (28), we obtain for every ⇢ smooth,
n
Z T Z Z
J (z )|z · r⇢(x, t )|p 2
z · r⇢(x, t )z · (r u(x, t ) r⇢(x, t ))dzdxdt
0 RN R N
Z TZ Z
 J (z ) (z , x, t )z · (r u(x, t ) r⇢(x, t ))dzdxdt .
0 RN RN
700 J. Sun et al. / Nonlinear Analysis 95 (2014) 691–702

And then, by approximating, for every ⇢ 2 Lp ((0, T ); W 1,p (RN )). Taking now, ⇢ = u ± v, > 0 and v 2 C01 (RN ⇥ (0, T )),
and letting ! 0, we get
Z T Z Z Z T Z Z
J (z ) (z , x, t )z · rv(x, t )dzdxdt = J (z )|z · r u(x, t )|p 2
z · r u(x, t )z · rv(x, t )dzdxdt .
0 RN RN 0 RN RN

Consequently,
Z T Z Z Z T Z
C J ,p
J (z ) (z , x, t )z · rv(x, t )dzdxdt = a(r u(x, t )) · rv(x, t )dxdt
2 0 RN RN 0 RN

for every v 2 C01 (RN ⇥ (0, T )), where

Z
C J ,p
aj (⇠ ) = J (z )|z · ⇠ |p 2
z · ⇠ zj dz .
RN 2
By a same argument as that in [19], there exists

a(⇠ ) = |⇠ |p 2
⇠.
Thus (27) holds.
Now we need only to check that
Z T Z 
1
(G↵"n ⇤ f (u"n ) f (u"n ))(x, t ) b · r f (u(x, t )) v(x, t )dxdt ! 0 as "n ! 0. (29)
0 RN ↵"n
In fact,
Z T Z 
1
(G↵"n ⇤ f (u"n ) f (u"n ))(x, t ) b · r f (u(x, t )) v(x, t )dxdt
0 RN ↵"n
Z TZ Z ✓ ◆
1 x y
= G↵
(f (u"n (y, t )) f (u"n (x, t )) f (u(y, t )) + f (u(x, t ))) · v(x, t )dydxdt
"nN +1 0 RN RN "n
Z TZ " Z ✓ ◆ #
1 x y
+ N +1
G↵ (f (u(y, t )) f (u(x, t )))dy b · r f (u(x, t )) v(x, t )dxdt
0 R N "n RN "n
= J1 + J2 .
For any v 2 C01 (RN ⇥ (0, T )), noticing lim"!0 supt 2[0,T ] ku" ukLp (RN ) = 0, f (s) = |s|q 1
s( q 1), changing variables, we
loc
obtain
Z T Z Z
1
J1 = G↵ (z ) f (u"n (x "n z , t )) f (u"n (x, t )) f (u(x "n z , t )) + f (u(x, t )) · v(x, t )dxdzdt
"n 0 RN RN
Z TZ Z ✓ ◆
v(x + "n z , t ) v(x, t )
= G↵ (z ) f (u"n (x, t )) f (u(x, t )) dxdzdt
0 RN RN "n
! 0, as "n ! 0.

Furthermore, noticing that u 2 Lp ((0, T ); W 1,p (RN )), b = (b1 , . . . , bN ) is given by

Z
bj = xj G↵ (x)dx, j = 1, . . . , N ,
RN

under the change of variables, we can obtain

Z T Z ✓Z ✓ ◆ ◆
1 x y
G↵ (f (u(y, t )) f (u(x, t )))dy v(x, t )dxdt
"nN +1 0 RN RN "n
Z T Z ✓Z ✓ ◆ ◆
f (u(x + "n z , t )) f (u(x, t ))
= G↵ (z ) dz v(x, t )dxdt
0 RN RN "n
Z T Z
! b · r f (u(x, t ))v(x, t )dxdt as "n ! 0,
0 RN

thus

lim J2 = 0
"n !0
 J. Sun et al. / Nonlinear Analysis 95 (2014) 691–702 701

and hence (29) follows. From (26), (27) and (29), passing to limit in (14) for " = "n , we get
Z T Z Z TZ
@u
(x, t )v(x, t )dxdt + |r u(x, t )|p 2 r u(x, t ) · rv(x, t )dxdt
0 RN @ t 0 RN
Z TZ
= b · r f (u(x, t ))v(x, t )dxdt (30)
0 RN

for every v 2 C01 (RN ⇥ [0, T ]). Up to now, we have verified that u is a solution of (3)–(4). This ends the proof of Theo-
rem 1.2. ⇤
To end this paper, as a supplementary result, we study the asymptotic decay of solutions of (1)–(2) and give the decay
rate as t ! 1.
Now we give the proof of Theorem 1.3.
Proof of Theorem 1.3. We multiply Eq. (1) by |u|r 2
u(x), 1  r < 1, and integrate to obtain,
Z
d
|u|r (x, t )dx
dt RN
Z Z
= J (x y)|u(y, t ) u(x, t )|p 2 (u(y, t ) u(x, t ))|u|r 2 u(x, t )dydx
RN RN
Z Z
+ G(x y)(f (u(y, t )) f (u(x, t )))|u|r 2 u(x, t )dydx
RN R N
Z Z
1
 J (x y)|u(y, t ) u(x, t )|p 2 (u(y, t ) u(x, t ))(|u|r 2 u(y, t ) | u| r 2
u(x, t ))dydx
2 RN RN
Z Z p
p+r 2 p+r 2
 C (p, r ) J (x y) |u| p u(y, t ) |u| p u(x, t ) dydx.
RN RN

The above inequality gives us that for any 1  r < 1, the solution to (1) satisfies
Z Z Z
d p+r 2 p+r 2 p
|u|r (x, t )dx + C (p, r ) J (x y) |u| p u(y, t ) | u| p u(x, t ) dydx  0.
dt RN RN RN

Then by a standard process as that for the proof of Theorem 4.2 in [21], we can obtain the decay estimate for solutions of
(1)–(2). ⇤

Acknowledgment

The authors are grateful to Professor Yin Jingxue for helpful discussions and suggestions.

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