Non-Existence of Positive Stationary Solutions for a Class of Semi-Linear PDEs with Random Coefficients

Abstract

We consider a so-called random obstacle model for the motion of a hypersurface through a field of random obstacles, driven by a constant driving field. The resulting semi-linear parabolic PDE with random coefficients does not admit a global nonnegative stationary solution, which implies that an interface that was flat originally cannot get stationary. The absence of global stationary solutions is shown by proving lower bounds on the growth of stationary solutions on large domains with Dirichlet boundary conditions. Difficulties arise because the random lower order part of the equation cannot be bounded uniformly.