A class of Hamilton–Jacobi equations with constraint: Uniqueness and constructive approach

We discuss a class of time-dependent Hamilton–Jacobi equations, where an unknown function of time is intended to keep the maximum of the solution to the constant value 0. Our main result is that the full problem has a unique viscosity solution, which is in fact classical. The motivation is a selection–mutation model which, in the limit of small diffusion, exhibits concentration on the zero level set of the solution of the Hamilton–Jacobi equation. Uniqueness is obtained by noticing that, as a consequence of the dynamic programming principle, the solution of the Hamilton–Jacobi equation is classical. It is then possible to write an ODE for the maximum of the solution, and treat the full problem as a nonstandard Cauchy problem.