Time optimal boundary controls for the heat equation

The fact that the time optimal controls for parabolic equations have the bang–bang property has been recently proved for controls distributed inside the considered domain (interior control). The main result in this article asserts that the boundary controls for the heat equation have the same property, at least in rectangular domains. This result is proved by combining methods from traditionally distinct fields: the Lebeau–Robbiano strategy for null controllability and estimates of the controllability cost in small time for parabolic systems, on one side, and a Remez-type inequality for Müntz spaces and a generalization of Turán’s inequality, on the other side. © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.