Asymptotic stability and energy decay rates for solutions of hyperbolic equations with boundary damping

Abstract : This report deals with the asymptotic behavior of solutions of the wave equation in a domain omega a sebset or equal to (R sup n). The boundary Gamma, of omega consists of two parts. One part reflects all energy while the other part absorbs energy to a degree. If the energy absorbing part is non-empty the authors show that the energy tends to zero as t nears infinity. With stronger assumptions one is able to obtain decay rates for the energy. Certain relationships with controllability are discussed and used to advantage.