We study homogenization of G-equation with a ow straining term (or the strain G-equation) in two dimensional periodic cellular ow. The strain G-equation is a highly non-coercive and non-convex level set Hamilton-Jacobi equation. The main objective is to investigate how the ow induced straining (the nonconvex term) in uences front propagation as the ow intensity A increases. Three distinct regimes are identified. When A is below the critical level, homogenization holds and the turbulent ame speed sT (effective Hamiltonian) is well-defined for any periodic ow with small divergence and is enhanced by the cellular ow as $s_T \ge O(A/logA)$. In the second regime where A is slightly above the critical value, homogenization breaks down, and $s_T$ is not well defined along any direction. Solutions become a mixture of fast moving part and a stagnant part. When $A$ is sufficiently large, the whole ame front ceases to propagate forward due to the flow induced straining. In particular, along directions $p = (1; 0)$ and $(0;1)$, $s_T$ is well-defined again with a value of zero (trapping). A partial homogenization result is also proved. If we consider a similar but relatively simpler Hamiltonian, the trapping occurs along all directions. The analysis is based on the two-player dierential game representation of solutions, selection of game strategies and trapping regions, and construction of connecting trajectories.

The Boltzmann equation which describes the time evolution of a large number of particles through the binary collision in statistics physics has close relation to the systems of fluid dynamics, that is, Euler equations and NavierStokes equations. As for a basic wave pattern to Euler equations, we consider the nonlinear stability of contact discontinuities to the Boltzmann equation. Even though the stability of the other two nonlinear waves, i.e., shocks and rarefaction waves has been extensively studied, there are few stability results on the contact discontinuity because unlike shock waves and rarefaction waves, its derivative has no definite sign, and decays slower than a rarefaction wave. Moreover, it behaves like a linear wave in a nonlinear setting so that its coupling with other nonlinear waves reveals a complicated interaction mechanism. Based on the new definition of contact waves to the Boltzmann equation

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We prove a Harnack inequality for positive harmonic functions on graphs which is similar to a classical result of Yau on Riemannian manifolds. Also, we prove a mean value inequality of nonnegative subharmonic functions on graphs.

We study convolution groups generated by completely monotone sequences and completely monotone functions. Using a convolution group, we define a fractional calculus for a certain class of distributions. When acting on causal functions, this definition agrees with the traditional Riemann-Liouville definition for t>0 but includes some singularities at t=0 so that the group property holds. Using this group, we are able to extend the definition of Caputo derivatives of order in (0,1) to a certain class of locally integrable functions without using the first derivative. The group property allows us to de-convolve the fractional differential equations to integral equations with completely monotone kernels, which then enables us to prove the general Gronwall inequality (or comparison principle) with the most general conditions. This then opens the door of a priori energy estimates of fractional PDEs. Some other fundamental results for fractional ODEs are also established within this frame under very weak conditions. Besides, we also obtain some interesting results about completely monotone sequences.