Auxiliary functions in the study of Stefan-like problems with variable thermal properties

Abstract

We address the existence and uniqueness of the so-called modified error function that arises in the study of phase-change problems with specific heat and thermal conductivity given by linear functions of the material temperature. This function is defined from a differential problem that depends on two parameters which are closely related with the slopes of the specific heat and the thermal conductivity. We identify conditions on these parameters which allow us to prove the existence of the modified error function. In addition, we show its uniqueness in the space of non-negative bounded analytic functions for parameters that can be negative and different from each other. This extends known results from the literature and enlarges the class of associated phase-change problems for which exact similarity solutions can be obtained. In addition, we provide some properties of the modified error function considered here.