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Suppose bounded $V\ge 0$ is bounded below by a positive constant on some nonempty open interval, and $f\ge C>0$. The Feynman-Kac formula with a bounded potential gives $u(t,x)\ge C{\mathbb{E}}_x{e}^{{\int }_0^{t}V(B_s)ds}$. Infinite occupation time of one-dimensional Brownian motion makes that integral tend to infinity almost surely. The monotone convergence theorem then gives $u(t,x)\to \infty$ for every fixed $x$. Thus no globally bounded classical solution exists under these hypotheses, although boundedness on every finite time slab is compatible with the conclusion.

For a classical solution of $\Delta u=f$ on a half-ball with zero data on its flat face, a tangential Caccioppoli inequality controls every second partial derivative having at least one tangential index. The equation recovers the remaining second normal derivative. The resulting Sobolev norm estimate has a dimension-only constant for the fixed radii one and two. Nonzero data are handled by homogenization of Dirichlet boundary data, adding the $W^{2,2}$ norm of the supplied boundary extension. No condition is imposed on the curved face because the smooth cutoff function vanishes there.

A travelling wave of the viscous Burgers equation can connect constant states $u_L>u_R$ through a smooth decreasing layer. Require $u(x,t)=U(z)$, $z=x-st$, $U(-\infty )=u_L$, $U(+\infty )=u_R$, and $U^{\prime }\to 0$ at both ends. Substitution and one integration giveThe speed follows by evaluating the integration constant at both end states. It is precisely the Rankine-Hugoniot condition for conservation law flux $f(u)=u^2/2$. Choosing the center $U(0)=s$ gives the displayed hyperbolic tangent profile. Its characteristic width scales as $\nu /(u_L-u_R)$; a smaller positive $\nu$ makes a thinner smooth layer.

For an original worked example in dimensionless quantities, take $u_L=2$, $u_R=0$ and $s=1$:This is an exact classical solution on $\mathbb{R}$ with its own smooth initial condition $u(x,0)=1-\tanh (x/(2\nu ))$ and limiting states $2,0$. It is a family of moving profiles, not the finite-$\nu$ solution starting from an exact discontinuous step. For that different initial condition, the Cole-Hopf transformation supplies the evolution. At $\nu =1/2$, this front starts from the same $1-\tanh x$ profile as the Burgers characteristic breaking example: positive diffusion maintains a smooth moving layer while the inviscid profile breaks at $t=1$.

To check the partial differential equation explicitly, set $w=(x-t)/(2\nu )$ and $S=1-{\tanh }^{2}w$. ThenThe independent Rankine-Hugoniot condition check gives $s=(0-2)/(0-2)=1$, using $f(2)=2$ and $f(0)=0$. At fixed $x\ne t$, the vanishing viscosity approximation tends to the entropy shock $2$ for $x<t$ and $0$ for $x>t$. At the center the smooth profiles stay at $1$; changing the value on the discontinuity does not change the limiting weak solution.

For $u_L<u_R$, the same integrated ordinary differential equation has $U^{\prime }<0$ between the two states when $\nu >0$, so it cannot supply an increasing connecting front. The inviscid admissible expansion is the rarefaction wave of the Burgers Riemann problem with positive flux.

The wave equation is a second-order linear partial differential equation describing waves with finite propagation speed. In one spatial dimension its homogeneous, constant-coefficient form isHere $x$ is position, $t$ is time, $u(x,t)$ is the disturbance, and subscripts denote partial derivatives. For a wave equation on a string, $u$ is transverse displacement; in linear acoustics, it can be a pressure perturbation. In several spatial dimensions, $u_{xx}$ becomes the Laplacian $\Delta u$. The same mathematical structure connects vibrating strings and acoustic waves, although their physical assumptions and wave speeds differ. ^[ref]

For the whole-line Cauchy problem, prescribe both displacement $u(x,0)=f(x)$ and velocity $u_t(x,0)=g(x)$. A classical solution has continuous partial derivatives through order two; $f\in C^2(\mathbb{R})$ and $g\in C^1(\mathbb{R})$ suffice for D'Alembert's formula to produce one. A finite string additionally needs boundary conditions. These statements concern the unforced model with constant $c$; damping, spatially varying coefficients and nonlinear terms change the solution formula.

A travelling wave $F(x-ct)$ carries its entire profile to the right at wave speed $c$; $G(x+ct)$ travels left. Their sum is again a solution by the superposition principle. A standing wave instead has a fixed mode shape whose size and sign oscillate: in $\sin (kx)\cos (ckt)$, each node of a standing wave stays stationary. The distinction is especially clear in the pulse and string diagrams below. For this ideal model, the dispersion relation is ${\omega }^2=c^2{k}^2$: each propagation branch is nondispersive, so a localized profile translates without spreading. This makes the equation a useful reference against which to understand wave dispersion and damping.

The appealing combination is local interaction with global predictability: neighbouring displacements determine acceleration through $u_{xx}$, yet D'Alembert's formula explicitly identifies exactly which initial locations can influence a later observation. Finite propagation speed turns that observation into a domain of dependence, rather than requiring knowledge of the entire initial string.

A weak-strong uniqueness principle says that a weak solution with the same data as a sufficiently regular classical solution agrees with that solution throughout its interval of regular existence, within the specified weak class. The conclusion is class-dependent: all bounded weak solutions of a prescribed $C^1$ linear transport field satisfy it, while nonlinear conservation laws require an admissibility condition such as an entropy solution condition.