The influence of the coefficients of a system of coupled wave equations with fractional damping on its stabilization

Abstract: In this work, we consider a system of two wave equations coupled by velocities in one-dimensional space, with one boundary fractional damping. First, we show that the system is strongly asymptotically stable if and only if the coupling parameter b of the two equations is outside a discrete set of exceptional real values. Next, we show that our system is not uniformly stable. Hence, we look for a polynomial decay rate for smooth initial data. Using frequency domain approach combining with multiplier method, we prove that the energy decay rate is greatly influenced by the nature of the coupling parameter b, the arithmetic property of the ratio of the wave propagation speeds a, the order of the fractional damping. Indeed, under the equal speed propagation condition, we establish an optimal polynomial energy decay rate. Furthermore, when the wave propagate with different speeds, under some arithmetic conditions on the ratio of the wave propagation speeds, we prove that the energy of our system decays polynomially to zero.