ABSTRACT Consider wave equations with time derivative nonlinearity and time‐dependent propagation speed which are generalized versions of the wave equations in the Friedmann–Lemaître–Robertson–Walker (FLRW) spacetime, the de Sitter spacetime and the anti‐de Sitter space time. We show lower bounds of the lifespan of solutions as well as the global existence by providing an integrability condition on the propagation speed function, which is applicable to the nonlinear wave equation in the expanding FLRW spacetime including the de Sitter spacetime. We also prove that blow‐up in a finite time occurs for the generalized form of the equation in contracting universes such as the anti‐de Sitter spacetime, as well as upper bounds of the lifespan of blow‐up solutions.
Tsutaya et al. (Thu,) studied this question.