A highly unstable initial value boundary value problem

In this paper we consider a two-dimensional diffusion equation on the closed right halfspace R2 + satisfying a boundary condition for which the minimum principle fails. As a consequence, the associated Cauchy initial value problem fails to be well-posed. In particular, solutions need not exist and, when they do exist, they may do so for only a finite length of time. Among other things, we provide a necessary and sufficient condition on the initial data in order that the solution exist for all time and remain non-negative. © 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.