Exact controllability to the trajectories of the one-phase Stefan problem

Abstract

This paper deals with the boundary exact controllability to the trajectories of the one-phase Stefan problem in one spatial dimension. This is a free-boundary problem that models solidification and melting processes. We prove the local exact controllability to (smooth) trajectories. To this purpose, we first reformulate the problem as the local null controllability of a coupled PDE-ODE system with distributed controls. Then, a new Carleman inequality for the adjoint of the linearized PDE-ODE system, coupled on the boundary through nonlocal in space and memory terms, is presented. This leads to the null controllability of an appropriate linear system. Finally, the result is obtained via local inversion, by using Liusternik-Graves’ Theorem. As a byproduct of our approach, we find that some parabolic equations which contains memory terms located on the boundary are null-controllable.