Gradient estimate and Liouville theorem for a semilinear parabolic equation with variable coefficient

Abstract

In this paper, we investigate the semilinear parabolic equation $\partial_t f-Δf=a(x,t)f^p$ on a complete Riemannian manifold with Ricci curvature bounded from below. By means of Nash-Moser iteration, we establish Li-Yau type gradient estimates for positive solutions to this equation, where the coefficient function $a$ can be either strictly sign-definite or sign-changing. As an application, we derive Liouville theorems for ancient and eternal solutions on manifolds with nonnegative Ricci curvature, generalizing a number of classical results. Our proof features the incorporation and tuning of two parameters in the auxiliary quantities to accommodate the variable coefficient $a$ and to extend the admissible range of $p$.