On blowup for semilinear wave equations with a focusing nonlinearity

Abstract

In this paper we report on numerical studies of formation of singularities for the semilinear wave equations with a focusing power nonlinearity $u_{tt} - \Delta u = u^{p}$ in three space dimensions. We show that for generic large initial data that lead to singularities, the spatial pattern of blowup can be described in terms of linearized perturbations about the fundamental self-similar (homogeneous in space) solution. We consider also non-generic initial data which are fine-tuned to the threshold for blowup and identify critical solutions that separate blowup from dispersal for some values of the exponent $p$.