Periodic solutions to one-dimensional wave equation with x-dependent coefficients

In this paper, we study the nonlinear one-dimensional periodic wave equation with x-dependent coefficients u(x)ytt−(u(x)yx)x+g(x,t,y)=f(x,t) on (0,π)×R under the boundary conditions a1y(0,t)+b1yx(0,t)=0, a2y(π,t)+b2yx(π,t)=0 ( for i=1,2) and the periodic conditions y(x,t+T)=y(x,t), yt(x,t+T)=yt(x,t). Such a model arises from the forced vibrations of a nonhomogeneous string and the propagation of seismic waves in nonisotropic media. A main concept is the notion “weak solution” to be given in Section 2. For T is the rational multiple of π, we prove some important properties of the weak solution operator. Based on these properties, the existence and regularity of weak solutions are obtained.