English

A pointwise tracking optimal control problem for a fractional, semilinear PDE

Optimization and Control 2026-04-17 v1

Abstract

We analyze an optimal control problem with pointwise tracking for a fractional semilinear elliptic partial differential equation. The diffusion is characterized by the spectral fractional Laplacian (Δ)s(-\Delta)^s with s(1/2,1)s \in (1/2,1), a range that guarantees the well-posedness of point evaluations of the state. In addition to the nonconvexity of the control problem, the main difficulty is that the adjoint equation is a fractional partial differential equation with a singular right-hand side: a linear combination of Dirac measures. We establish the existence of optimal solutions and derive first-order as well as necessary and sufficient second-order optimality conditions.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2604.14940,
  title  = {A pointwise tracking optimal control problem for a fractional, semilinear PDE},
  author = {Enrique Otarola and Abner J. Salgado},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2604.14940},
  year   = {2026}
}
R2 v1 2026-07-01T12:12:32.913Z