Stefan problem

Abstract

We prove the existence of a global classical solution of the multidimensional two-phase Stefan problem. The problem is reduced to a quasilinear parabolic equation with discontinuous coefficients in a fixed domain. With the help of a small parameter ε, we smooth coefficients and investigate the resulting approximate solution. An analytical method that enables one to obtain the uniform estimates of an approximate solution in the cross-sections t = const is developed. Given the uniform estimates, we make the limiting transition as ε → 0. The limit of the approximate solution is a classical solution of the Stefan problem, and the free boundary is a surface of the class H2+α,1+α/2. © 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, Inc.