Penalization for a PDE with a nonlinear Neumann boundary condition and measurable coefficients

Abstract

We consider a system of semilinear partial differential equations (PDEs) with measurable coefficients and a nonlinear Neumann boundary condition. We then construct a sequence of penalized PDEs, which converges to our initial problem. Since the coefficients we consider may be discontinuous, we use the notion of solution in the [Formula: see text]-viscosity sense. The method we use is based on backward stochastic differential equations and their [Formula: see text]-tightness. This work is motivated by the fact that many PDEs in physics have discontinuous coefficients. As a consequence, it follows that if the uniqueness holds, then the solution can be constructed by a penalization.