Orlicz-type Function Spaces and Generalized Gradient Flows with Degenerate Dissipation Potentials in Non-Reflexive Banach Spaces: Theory and Application

Abstract: This thesis explores two important areas in the mathematical analysis of nonlinear partial differential equations: Generalized gradient flows and vector valued Orlicz spaces. The first part deals with the existence of strong solutions for generalized gradient flows, overcoming challenges such as non-coercive and infinity-valued dissipation potentials and non-monotone subdifferential operators on non-reflexive Banach spaces. The second part focuses on the study of Banach-valued Orlicz spaces, a flexible class of Banach spaces for quantifying the growth of nonlinear functions. Besides improving many known results by imposing minimal assumptions, we extend the theory by handling infinity-valued Orlicz integrands and arbitrary Banach-values in the duality theory. The combination of these results offers a powerful tool for analyzing differential equations involving functions of arbitrary growth rates and leads to a significant improvement over previous results, demonstrated through the existence of weak solutions for a doubly nonlinear initial-boundary value problem of Allen-Cahn-Gurtin type.