Optimal Control of Partial Differential Equations

Optimal control theory is concerned with finding control functions that minimize cost functions for systems described by differential equations. The methods have found widespread applications in aeronautics, mechanical engineering, the life sciences, and many other disciplines. This book focuses on optimal control problems where the state equation is an elliptic or parabolic partial differential equation. Included are topics such as the existence of optimal solutions, necessary optimality conditions and adjoint equations, second-order sufficient conditions, and main principles of selected numerical techniques. It also contains a survey on the Karush-Kuhn-Tucker theory of nonlinear programming in Banach spaces.…