ASYMPTOTIC AND BIFURCATION ANALYSIS OF WAVE-PINNING IN A REACTION-DIFFUSION MODEL FOR CELL POLARIZATION

We describe and analyze a bistable reaction-diffusion (RD) model for two interconverting chemical species that exhibits a phenomenon of wave-pinning: a wave of activation of one of the species is initiated at one end of the domain, moves into the domain, decelerates, and eventually stops inside the domain, forming a stationary front. The second ("inactive") species is depleted in this process. This behavior arises in a model for chemical polarization of a cell by Rho GTPases in response to stimulation. The initially spatially homogeneous concentration profile (representative of a resting cell) develops into an asymmetric stationary front profile (typical of a polarized cell). Wave-pinning here is based on three properties: (1) mass conservation in a finite domain, (2) nonlinear reaction kinetics allowing for multiple stable steady states, and (3) a sufficiently large difference in diffusion of the two species. Using matched asymptotic analysis, we explain the mathematical basis of wave-pinning, and predict the speed and pinned position of the wave. An analysis of the bifurcation of the pinned front solution reveals how the wave-pinning regime depends on parameters such as rates of diffusion and total mass of the species. We describe two ways in which the pinned solution can be lost depending on the details of the reaction kinetics: a saddle-node or a pitchfork bifurcation.     

Traveling wave front for a two-component lattice dynamical system arising in competition models

We study traveling front solutions for a two-component system on a one-dimensional lattice. This system arises in the study of the competition between two species with diffusion (or migration), if we divide the habitat into discrete regions or niches. We consider the case when the nonlinear source terms are of Lotka–Volterra type and of monostable case. We first show that there is a positive constant (the minimal wave speed) such that a traveling front exists if and only if its speed is above this minimal wave speed. Then we show that any wave profile is strictly monotone. Moreover, under some conditions, we show that the wave profile is unique (up to translations) for a given wave speed. Finally, we characterize the minimal wave speed by the parameters in the system.     

Pinning and mode-locking of reaction fronts by vortices

We present results of experiments on the behavior of reaction fronts in the presence of vortex-dominated flows. The flow is either a single vortex or a chain of vortices in an annular configuration, and the reaction is the excitable Belousov–Zhabotinsky chemical reaction. If the vortex chain oscillates periodically in the lateral direction, the reaction front often mode-locks to the oscillations, propagating an integer number of wavelengths of the flow (two vortices) in an integer number of drive periods. In the presence of a uniform “wind”, the front often freezes, remaining pinned to the leading vortex and neither propagating forward against the wind nor being blown backward by it. Studies with an individual vortex verify the ability of a moving vortex to pin and drag a reaction front. We use this pinning behavior to explain the mode-locking for the oscillating case.     

Spatiotemporal patterns in a two-dimensional reaction-diffusion-convection system: Effect of transport parameters

We report on spatiotemporal patterns emerging in a system consisting of an autocatalytic reaction in a continuous flow tubular reactor. The autocatalyst undergoes a mutation and the resulting mutant is assumed to compete with the original autocatalyst. The system is modeled by a set of three partial differential equations with eight design parameters. We examine and discuss the effect of transport parameters, reactor inlet boundary condition, and reactor aspect ratio on the dynamics of the system. The results show a variety of regimes going from steady propagation of a reaction front to the development of chemical waves in the form of pulsating, more or less regularly, reaction front.     

Asymptotic analysis of stationary propagation of the front of a two-stage exothermic reaction in a gas : PMM vol. 37, n6, 1973, pp. 1049–1058

We construct an approximate solution of the problem concerning the propagation of a planar. front of a two-stage exothermic sequential chemical reaction in a gas, by the method of matched asymptotic expansions. As the parameter in the expansion we use the ratio of the adiabatic combustion temperature to the sum of the activation temperatures of both reactions. Depending on the values of the characteristic parameters of the problem, we consider several solutions, each with a different asymptotic behavior, corresponding to the various flame front propagation modes. The analytical results obtained are compared with numerical data available in the literature.     

On front solutions of the saturation equation of two-phase flow in porous media

We investigate the existence of “front” solutions of the saturation equation of two-phase flow in porous media. By front solution we mean a monotonic solution connecting two different saturations. The Brooks–Corey and the van Genuchten models are used to describe the relative-permeability – and capillary pressure–saturation relationships. We show that two classes of front solutions exist: self-similar front solutions and travelling-wave front solutions. Self-similar front solutions exist only for horizontal displacements of fluids (without gravity). However, travelling-wave front solutions exist for both horizontal and vertical (including gravity) displacements. The stability of front solutions is confirmed numerically.     

一种基于进化策略的化学方程式配平新方法

对标准进化策略算法作一改进,根据质量守恒定律和化学方程式左右两边的原子来建立数学模型,将化学方程式配平问题转化为最优化求解问题.改进后的进化策略算法用于最优化求解问题,提出了一种基于进化策略的化学方程式配平新算法.该算法中的初始群体中的个体为整数,通过对群体的进化,来求化学方程式各物质前的最简系数.实验结果表明,这种改进后的进化策略算法能够有效地确定出任意一化学方程式各物质前的最简系数,最终完成化学方程式配平,其目的为任意一化学方程式配平问题提供了一行之有效的新方法.     

The Influence of Variable Convective Velocities on Longitudinal Diffusion

Solutions are presented for the impulsively started uniformstream and simple shear flows past a point source of momentum,which can be interpreted to describe the position and the widthof the front which transmits the knowledge of the singularitythrough a slightly viscous fluid. These understandings are thengeneralized to show that the front always moves with velocityslower than that of a (strictly monotonic) convective velocity,and also that its width always grows faster than with simplediffusion. Finally, a remarkably simple, exact expression is given forvorticity due to a simple shear flow past a point vortex.     

Diffraction of impulsive elastic waves by a fluid cylinder

We consider the diffraction of impulsive SV waves by a fluid circular cylinder. The cylinder is embedded in an unbounded isotropic homogeneous elastic medium and it is filled with some acoustic fluid. The line source, generating the incident pulse, is situated outside the cylinder parallel to its axis. We investigate the problem by the method of dual integral transformation as developed by Friedlander. The resulting integrals are evaluated approximately to obtain the short-time estimate of the motion near the wave front in the shadow zone of the elastic medium. We also interpret the approximate solution in terms of Keller’s geometrical theory of diffraction.     

Controlling job arrivals with processing time windows into Batch Processor Buffer

We consider a two-stage manufacturing system composed of a batch processor and its upstream processor. Jobs exit the upstream processor and join a queue in front of the batch processor, where they wait to be processed. The batch processor has a finite capacity Q, and its processing time is independent of the number of jobs loaded into the batch processor. In certain manufacturing systems (including semiconductor wafer fabrication), a processing time window exists from the time instance the job exits the upstream processor till the time instance it enters the batch processor. If a job is not processed before reaching the end of its processing time window, job rework or validation is required. We model this drawback by assigning a reward R for each successfully processed job by the upstream processor, and a penalty C for each job that reaches the end of its processing time window without being processed by the batch processor. We initially assume an infinite job source in front of the serial processor and also assume that the batch processor is operated under a threshold policy. We provide a method for controlling the production of the serial processor, considering the processing time window between the upstream processor and the downstream batch processor. We then show how the serial processor control policy can be modified when the serial processor also experiences intermittent job arrival.     

Modeling the interaction of a wave front with a forest

We investigate the processes that arise when a wave front hits a natural obstacle in the form of a forest. The modeling is carried out in the framework of a single methodological approach that uses the Euler equation to describe the motion of the air mass both over an open area and inside the forest. In the latter case the equations include mass forces associated with the vegetation. The numerical solution is obtained by Godunov’s method using parallel programming techniques. Two types of incident wave front are investigated: a plane shockwave and a nonlinear acoustic impulse modeling a spherical explosion wave at a large distance from the source. The specific features of the interaction process, including penetration of the wave front into the forest, partial reflection from the near boundary, and diffraction above the top boundary, are investigated for different types of vegetation (coniferous and deciduous forests). The numerical results reveal the formation of a pair of ascending and descending currents in the upper part of the forest (inside the tree crowns). The existence of this structure is confirmed by experimental findings. __________ Translated from Prikladnaya Matematika i Informatika, No. 21, pp. 48–71, 2005.     

The structure of the perturbation front in transport processes with relaxation

In a study of transport processes with a relaxation kernel of general form, the distribution of the transported quantity is determined near a front created by perturbations emerging from a point source. This is the region in which the specific form of the kernel function becomes significant, since at a distance from the front the process is adequately described by the heat-conduction equation. General physical and thermodynamic conditions that must be imposed on the relaxation kernel are formulated. The distribution near the front is computed separately in one, two and three dimensions.     

Source identification for the heat equation

The problem of determining an unknown heat source in a homogeneous, semi-infinite slab from measured temperature and flux data is examined. When the source is separable into a product of temporal and spatial components, a functional relationship is derived that relates the Laplace transforms of these components. Examples considered include a point source with oscillating intensity and a spatial layer undergoing exponential decay. A source of non-separable type in the form of a moving front is alsotreated.     

Axially asymmetric traveling fronts in balanced bistable reaction-diffusion equations

For a balanced bistable reaction-diffusion equation, an axisymmetric traveling front has been well known. This paper proves that an axially asymmetric traveling front with any positive speed does exist in a balanced bistable reaction-diffusion equation. Our method is as follows. We use a pyramidal traveling front for an unbalanced reaction-diffusion equation whose cross section has a major axis and a minor axis. Preserving the ratio of the major axis and a minor axis to be a constant and taking the balanced limit, we obtain a traveling front in a balanced bistable reaction-diffusion equation. This traveling front is monotone decreasing with respect to the traveling axis, and its cross section is a compact set with a major axis and a minor axis when the constant ratio is not 1.     

Stability of a flame front in a divergent flow

We study the evolution of perturbations on the surface of a stationary plane flame front in a divergent flow of a combustible mixture incident on a plane wall perpendicular to the flow. The flow and its perturbations are assumed to be two-dimensional; i.e., the velocity has two Cartesian components. It is also assumed that the front velocity relative to the gas is small; therefore, the fluid can be considered incompressible on both sides of the front; in addition, it is assumed that in the presence of perturbations the front velocity relative to the gas ahead of it is a linear function of the front curvature. It is shown that due to the dependence (in the unperturbed flow) of the tangential component of the gas velocity on the combustion front on the coordinate along the front, the amplitude of the flame front perturbation does not increase infinitely with time, but the initial growth of perturbations stops and then begins to decline. We evaluate the coefficient of the maximum growth of perturbations, which may be large, depending on the problem parameters. It is taken into account that the characteristic spatial scale of the initial perturbations may be much greater than the wavelengths of the most rapidly growing perturbations, whose length is comparable with the flame front thickness. The maximum growth of perturbations is estimated as a function of the characteristic spatial scale of the initial perturbations.     

A Chemotactic Model for Interaction of Antagonistic Microflora Colonies: Front Asymptotics and Numerical Simulations

This paper studies a two‐dimensional chemotactic model for two species in which one of them produces a chemo‐repellent for the other. It is shown asymptotically and numerically how the chemical inhibits the invasion of a moving front for the second species and how stable steady states, which depend on the chemical concentration, can be reached. The results qualitatively explain experimental observations by Swain and Ray [ 1 ] showing that colonies of bacteria produce metabolite agents which prevent the invasion of fungi.     

Front-like entire solutions for equations with convection

We construct families of front-like entire solutions for problems with convection, both for bistable and monostable reaction–diffusion–convection equations, and, via vanishing-viscosity arguments, for bistable and monostable balance laws. The unified approach employed is inspired by ideas of Chen and Guo and based on a robust method using front-dependent sub and supersolutions. Unlike convectionless problems, the equations studied here lack symmetry between increasing and decreasing travelling waves, which affects the choice of sub and supersolutions used. Our entire solutions include both those that behave like two fronts coming together and annihilating as time increases, and, for bistable equations, those that behave like two fronts merging to propagate like a single front. We also characterise the long-time behaviour of each family of entire solutions, which in the case of solutions constructed from a monostable front merging with a bistable front answers a question that was open even for reaction–diffusion equations without convection.     

Reaction front propagation of actin polymerization in a comb-reaction system

We develop a theoretical model of anomalous transport with polymerization-reaction dynamics. We are motivated by the experimental problem of actin polymerization occurring in a microfluidic device with a comb-like geometry. Depending on the concentration of reagents, two limiting regimes for the propagation of reaction are recovered: the failure of the reaction front propagation and a finite speed of the reaction front corresponding to the Fisher-Kolmogorov-Petrovskii-Piscounov (FKPP) at the long time asymptotic regime. To predict the relevance of these regimes we obtain an explicit expression for the transient time as a function of geometry and parameters of the experimental setup. Explicit analytical expressions of the reaction front velocity are obtained as functions of the experimental setup.     

Large time behavior of disturbed planar fronts in the Allen-Cahn equation

We consider the Allen-Cahn equation in Rn (with n?2) and study how a planar front behaves when arbitrarily large (but bounded) perturbation is given near the front region. We first show that the behavior of the disturbed front can be approximated by that of the mean curvature flow with a drift term for all large time up to t=+∞. Using this observation, we then show that the planar front is asymptotically stable in L^∞(Rn) under spatially ergodic perturbations, which include quasi-periodic and almost periodic ones as special cases. As a by-product of our analysis, we present a result of a rather general nature, which states that, for a large class of evolution equations, the unique ergodicity of the initial data is inherited by the solution at any later time.     

Low-Frequency Multidimensional Instabilities for Reacting Shock Waves

This paper presents a weakly nonlinear analysis for one scenario for the development of transversal instabilities in detonation waves in two space dimensions. The theory proposed and developed here is most appropriate for understanding the behavior of regular and chaotically irregular pulsation instabilities that occur in detonation fronts in condensed phases and occasionally in gases. The theory involves low-frequency instabilities and through suitable asymptotics yields a complex Ginzburg-Landau equation that describes simultaneously the evolution of the detonation front and the nonlinear interactions behind this front. The asymptotic theory mimics the familiar theory of nonlinear hydrodynamic instability in outline; however, there are several novel technical aspects in the derivation because the phenomena studied here involve a complex free boundary problem for a system of nonlinear hyperbolic equations with source terms.