Spatially discrete reaction–diffusion equations with discontinuous hysteresis

We address the question: Why may reaction–diffusion equations with hysteretic nonlinearities become ill-posed and how to amend this? To do so, we discretize the spatial variable and obtain a lattice dynamical system with a hysteretic nonlinearity. We analyze a new mechanism that leads to appearance of a spatio-temporal pattern called rattling: the solution exhibits a propagation phenomenon different from the classical traveling wave, while the hysteretic nonlinearity, loosely speaking, takes a different value at every second spatial point, independently of the grid size. Such a dynamics indicates how one should redefine hysteresis to make the continuous problem well-posed and how the solution will then behave. In the present paper, we develop main tools for the analysis of the spatially discrete model and apply them to a prototype case. In particular, we prove that the propagation velocity is of order $a{t}^{?1/2}$ as $t\to \infty$ and explicitly find the rate a.     

Qualitative behavior of numerical traveling solutions for reaction–diffusion equations with memory

In this article the qualitative properties of numerical traveling wave solutions for integro- differential equations, which generalize the well known Fisher equation are studied. The integro-differential equation is replaced by an equivalent hyperbolic equation which allows us to characterize the numerical velocity of traveling wave solutions. Numerical results are presented.     

On the solutions of time-fractional reaction–diffusion equations

In this paper, a new application of generalized differential transform method (GDTM) has been used for solving time-fractional reaction–diffusion equations. To illustrate the reliability of the method, some examples are provided.     

Periodic solutions in reaction–diffusion equations with time delay

Spatial diffusion and time delay are two main factors in biological and chemical systems. However, the combined effects of them on diffusion systems are not well studied. As a result, we investigate a nonlinear diffusion system with delay and obtain the existence of the periodic solutions using coincidence degree theory. Moreover, two numerical examples confirm our theoretical results. The obtained results can also be applied in other related fields.     

Exact solutions for logistic reaction–diffusion equations in biology

Reaction–diffusion equations with a nonlinear source have been widely used to model various systems, with particular application to biology. Here, we provide a solution technique for these types of equations in N-dimensions. The nonclassical symmetry method leads to a single relationship between the nonlinear diffusion coefficient and the nonlinear reaction term; the subsequent solutions for the Kirchhoff variable are exponential in time (either growth or decay) and satisfy the linear Helmholtz equation in space. Example solutions are given in two dimensions for particular parameter sets for both quadratic and cubic reaction terms.     

Long-term coexistence for a competitive system of spatially varying gradient reaction–diffusion equations

Spatial distribution of interacting chemical or biological species is usually described by a system of reaction–diffusion equations. In this work we consider a system of two reaction–diffusion equations with spatially varying diffusion coefficients which are different for different species and with forcing terms which are the gradient of a spatially varying potential. Such a system describes two competing biological species. We are interested in the possibility of long-term coexistence of the species in a bounded domain. Such long-term coexistence may be associated either with a periodic in time solution (usually associated with a Hopf bifurcation), or with time-independent solutions. We prove that no periodic solution exists for the system. We also consider some steady states (the time-independent solutions) and examine their stability and bifurcations.     

Domain decomposition methods for a class of spatially heterogeneous delayed reaction–diffusion equations

We derive and study a class of delayed reaction–diffusion equations with spatial heterogeneity, which models the population of a single species with different habitats for mature and immature individuals. We introduce new solid cones, obtain spectral bounds of several spatial heterogeneous operators, and establish limiting non-negativeness property for the whole space and the eventual comparison principle for bounded domains. As a result, we develop new domain decomposition methods so that one can compare solutions with those to associated equations from a suitable bounded spatial domain to the whole space. Then by employing domain decomposition methods and dynamical system approaches, we obtain threshold results under the supremum norm. These results are greatly different from the existing ones of other evolution equations in unbounded domains or the whole space. The main results are applied to two examples with the Ricker birth function and with the Mackey–Glass birth function. It reveals that the size of the immature habitat can affect the reproduction and spread of the population.     

Traveling wave solutions of advection–diffusion equations with nonlinear diffusion

We study the existence of particular traveling wave solutions of a nonlinear parabolic degenerate diffusion equation with a shear flow. Under some assumptions we prove that such solutions exist at least for propagation speeds c∈]_c?,+∞[$c\in ]c_{?},+\infty [$, where _c?>0$c_{?}>0$ is explicitly computed but may not be optimal. We also prove that a free boundary hypersurface separates a region where u=0$u=0$ and a region where u>0$u>0$, and that this free boundary can be globally parametrized as a Lipschitz continuous graph under some additional non-degeneracy hypothesis; we investigate solutions which are, in the region u>0$u>0$, planar and linear at infinity in the propagation direction, with slope equal to the propagation speed.     

Bifurcation of positive solutions to scalar reaction–diffusion equations with nonlinear boundary condition

The bifurcation of non-trivial steady state solutions of a scalar reaction–diffusion equation with nonlinear boundary conditions is considered using several new abstract bifurcation theorems. The existence and stability of positive steady state solutions are proved using a unified approach. The general results are applied to a Laplace equation with nonlinear boundary condition and bistable nonlinearity, and an elliptic equation with superlinear nonlinearity and sublinear boundary conditions.     

Existence of periodic travelling wave solutions of non-autonomous reaction–diffusion equations with lambda–omega type

Periodic travelling wave solutions of reaction–diffusion equations were studied by many authors. The λ–ω$\lambda \text{–}\omega$ type reaction–diffusion system is a notable special model that admits explicit periodic travelling wave solutions and was introduced by Kopell and Howard in 1973. There are now similar systems which are investigated by means of autonomous dynamics. In contrast, there are few papers which are concerned with non-autonomous cases. For this reason, we apply Mawhin’s continuation theorem to derive the existence of periodic travelling wave solutions for non-autonomous λ–ω$\lambda \text{–}\omega$ systems, and we describe the ‘disappearance’ of periodic travelling wave solutions under special situations. Our main result is also illustrated by examples.     

Finite difference reaction–diffusion equations with nonlinear diffusion coefficients

Summary. A monotone iterative method for numerical solutions of a class of finite difference reaction-diffusion equations with nonlinear diffusion coefficient is presented. It is shown that by using an upper solution or a lower solution as the initial iteration the corresponding sequence converges monotonically to a unique solution of the finite difference system. It is also shown that the solution of the finite difference system converges to the solution of the continuous equation as the mesh size decreases to zero. Received February 18, 1998 / Revised version received April 21, 1999 / Published online February 17, 2000     

Global classical solutions for reaction–diffusion systems with nonlinearities of exponential growth

The aim of this study is to prove global existence of classical solutions for systems of the form ${\frac{\partial u}{\partial t} -a \Delta u=-f(u,v)}The aim of this study is to prove global existence of classical solutions for systems of the form \frac?u?t -a Du=-f(u,v){\frac{\partial u}{\partial t} -a \Delta u=-f(u,v)} , \frac?v?t -b Dv=g(u,v){\frac{\partial v}{\partial t} -b \Delta v=g(u,v)} in (0, +∞) × Ω where Ω is an open bounded domain of class C ¹ in \mathbbRⁿ{\mathbb{R}^n}, a > 0, b > 0 and f, g are nonnegative continuously differentiable functions on [0, +∞) × [0, +∞) satisfying f (0, η) = 0, g(x,h) ￡ C j(x)e^ahb{g(\xi,\eta) \leq C \varphi(\xi)e^{\alpha {\eta^\beta}}} and g(ξ, η) ≤ ψ(η)f(ξ, η) for some constants C > 0, α > 0 and β ≥ 1 where j{\varphi} and ψ are any nonnegative continuously differentiable functions on [0, +∞) such that j(0)=0{\varphi(0)=0} and lim_{h? +￥}h^b-1y(h) = l{ \lim_{\eta \rightarrow +\infty}\eta^{\beta -1}\psi(\eta)= \ell} where ℓ is a nonnegative constant. The asymptotic behavior of the global solutions as t goes to +∞ is also studied. For this purpose, we use the appropriate techniques which are based on semigroups, energy estimates and Lyapunov functional methods.     

Mixed quadratic-cubic autocatalytic reaction–diffusion equations: Semi-analytical solutions

Semi-analytical solutions for autocatalytic reactions with mixed quadratic and cubic terms are considered. The kinetic model is combined with diffusion and considered in a one-dimensional reactor. The spatial structure of the reactant and autocatalyst concentrations are approximated by trial functions and averaging is used to obtain a lower-order ordinary differential equation model, as an approximation to the governing partial differential equations. This allows semi-analytical results to be obtained for the reaction–diffusion cell, using theoretical methods developed for ordinary differential equations. Singularity theory is used to investigate the static multiplicity of the system and obtain a parameter map, in which the different types of steady-state bifurcation diagrams occur. Hopf bifurcations are also found by a local stability analysis of the semi-analytical model. The transitions in the number and types of bifurcation diagrams and the changes to the parameter regions, in which Hopf bifurcations occur, as the relative importance of the cubic and quadratic terms vary, is explored in great detail. A key outcome of the study is that the static and dynamic stability of the mixed system exhibits more complexity than either the cubic or quadratic autocatalytic systems alone. In addition it is found that varying the diffusivity ratio, of the reactant and autocatalyst, causes dramatic changes to the dynamic stability. The semi-analytical results are show to be highly accurate, in comparison to numerical solutions of the governing partial differential equations.     

Periodic homogenization of strongly nonlinear reaction–diffusion equations with large reaction terms

We study in this article the periodic homogenization problem related to a strongly nonlinear reaction–diffusion equation. Owing to the large reaction term, the homogenized equation has a rather quite different form which puts together both the reaction and convection effects. We show in a special case that the homogenized equation is exactly of a convection-diffusion type. This study relies on a suitable version of the well-known two-scale convergence method.