A Non-Local Problem for the Fractional-Order Rayleigh–Stokes Equation

Abstract

A nonlocal boundary value problem for the fractional version of the Rayleigh–Stokes equation, well-known in fluid dynamics, is studied. Namely, the condition u(x,T)=βu(x,0)+φ(x), where β is an arbitrary real number, is proposed instead of the initial condition. If β=0, then we have the inverse problem in time, called the backward problem. It is well-known that the backward problem is ill-posed in the sense of Hadamard. If β=1, then the corresponding non-local problem becomes well-posed in the sense of Hadamard, and moreover, in this case a coercive estimate for the solution can be established. The aim of this work is to find values of the parameter β, which separates two types of behavior of the semi-backward problem under consideration. We prove the following statements: if β≥1, or β<0, then the problem is well-posed; if β∈(0,1), then depending on the eigenvalues of the elliptic part of the equation, for the existence of a solution an additional condition on orthogonality of the right-hand side of the equation and the boundary function to some eigenfunctions of the corresponding elliptic operator may emerge.