Well-posedness of the stochastic thin-film equation with an interface potential

Abstract

We consider strictly positive solutions to a class of fourth-order conservative quasilinear SPDEs on the $d$-dimensional torus modeled after the stochastic thin-film equation. We prove local Lipschitz estimates in Bessel potential spaces under minimal assumptions on the parameters and corresponding stochastic maximal $L^p$-regularity estimates for thin-film type operators with measurable in-time coefficients. As a result, we deduce local well-posedness of the stochastic thin-film equation as well as blow-up criteria and instantaneous regularization for the solution. In dimension one, we additionally close $\alpha$-entropy estimates and subsequently an energy estimate for the stochastic thin-film equation with an interface potential so that global well-posedness follows. We allow for a wide range of mobility functions including the power laws $u^n$ for $n\in [0,6)$ as long as the interface potential is sufficiently repulsive.

Improved presentation. To appear in Communications in Mathematical Physics. 48 pages