Metastable patterns in solutions of ut = ϵ2uxx − f(u)

We consider the equation in question on the interval 0 ≦ x ≦ 1 having Neumann boundary conditions, with f(u) = F(u), where F is a double well energy density with equal minima at u = ±1. The only stable states of the system are patternless constant solutions. But given two-phase initial data, a pattern of interfacial layers typically forms far out of equilibrium. The ensuing nonlinear relaxation process is extremely slow: patterns persist for exponentially long times proportional to exp{A_±l/?, where A = F(±1) and l is the minimum distance between layers. Physically, a tiny potential jump across a layer drives its motion. We prove the existence and persistence of these metastable patterns, and characterise accurately the equations governing their motion. The point of view is reminiscent of center manifold theory: a manifold parametrising slowly evolving states is introduced, a neighbourhood is shown to be normally attracting, and the parallel flow is characterised to high relative accuracy. Proofs involve a detailed study of the Dirichlet problem, spectral gap analysis, and energy estimates.     

A Host of Traveling Waves in a Model of Three-Dimensional Water-Wave Dynamics

Summary. We describe traveling waves in a basic model for three-dimensional water-wave dynamics in the weakly nonlinear long-wave regime. Small solutions that are periodic in the direction of translation (or orthogonal to it) form an infinite-dimensional family. We characterize these solutions through spatial dynamics, by reducing a linearly ill-posed mixed-type initial-value problem to a center manifold of infinite dimension and codimension. A unique global solution exists for arbitrary small initial data for the two-component bottom velocity, specified along a single line in the direction of translation (or orthogonal to it). A dispersive, nonlocal, nonlinear wave equation governs the spatial evolution of bottom velocity. Received July 20, 2001; accepted November 5, 2001     

Self–similarity and instability in classical mean–field models for domain coarsening

In the classical theory by Lifshitz, Slyozov and Wagner (LSW) coarsening of a dilute system of particles is modelled by a nonlocal transport equation for the particle size distribution. LSW predict that the asymptotic behavior for large times is self–similar and that a particular self–similar profile is approached. In this talk we discuss rigorous results on the long–time behavior of solutions for several variants of this model. For systems in which particle size is uniformly bounded these results establish a sensitive dependence on the data and thus in general do not confirm the predictions by LSW. More precisely we prove that convergence to the classically predicted similarity solution is impossible if the initial distribution is comparable to any finite power of distance to the end of the support. In addition we give a necessary criterion for convergence to other self–similar solutions, which implies non–self–similar asymptotics for a dense set of data.     

Scaling dynamics for solvable coagulation equations with dust and gel

We study limiting behavior of rescaled size distributions that evolve by Smoluchowski's rate equations for coagulation, with rate kernel K=2, x+y or xy. We find that the dynamics naturally extend to probability distributions on the half-line with zero and infinity appended, representing populations of clusters of zero and infinite size. The “scaling attractor” (set of subsequential limits) is compact and has a Levy-Khintchine-type representation that linearizes the dynamics and allows one to establish several signatures of chaos. In particular, for any given solution trajectory, there is a dense family of initial distributions (with the same initial tail) that yield scaling trajectories that shadow the given one for all time. (© 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Universality Classes in Burgers Turbulence

We establish necessary and sufficient conditions for the shock statistics to approach self-similar form in Burgers turbulence with Lévy process initial data. The proof relies upon an elegant closure theorem of Bertoin and Carraro and Duchon that reduces the study of shock statistics to Smoluchowski’s coagulation equation with additive kernel, and upon our previous characterization of the domains of attraction of self-similar solutions for this equation.     

Approach to self‐similarity in Smoluchowski's coagulation equations

We consider the approach to self‐similarity (or dynamical scaling) in Smoluchowski's equations of coagulation for the solvable kernels K(x, y) = 2, x + y and xy. In addition to the known self‐similar solutions with exponential tails, there are one‐parameter families of solutions with algebraic decay, whose form is related to heavy‐tailed distributions well‐known in probability theory. For K = 2 the size distribution is Mittag‐Leffler, and for K = x + y and K = xy it is a power‐law rescaling of a maximally skewed α‐stable Lévy distribution. We characterize completely the domains of attraction of all self‐similar solutions under weak convergence of measures. Our results are analogous to the classical characterization of stable distributions in probability theory. The proofs are simple, relying on the Laplace transform and a fundamental rigidity lemma for scaling limits. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Convective Linear Stability of Solitary Waves for Boussinesq Equations

Boussinesq was the first to explain the existence of Scott Russell's solitary wave mathematically. He employed a variety of asymptotically equivalent equations to describe water waves in the small-amplitude, long-wave regime. We study the linearized stability of solitary waves for three linearly well-posed Boussinesq models. These are problems for which well-developed Lyapunov methods of stability analysis appear to fail. However, we are able to analyze the eigenvalue problem for small-amplitude solitary waves, by comparison to the equation that Boussinesq himself used to describe the solitary wave, which is now called the Korteweg–de Vries equation. With respect to a weighted norm designed to diminish as perturbations convect away from the wave profile, we prove that nonzero eigenvalues are absent in a half-plane of the form R λ>− b for some b >0, for all three Boussinesq models. This result is used to prove the decay of solutions of the evolution equations linearized about the solitary wave, in two of the models. This "convective linear stability" property has played a central role in the proof of nonlinear asymptotic stability of solitary-wave-like solutions in other systems.     

On the dynamics of fine structure

Summary We investigate models for the dynamical behavior of mechanical systems that dissipate energy as timet increases. We focus on models whose underlying potential energy functions do not attain a minimum, possessing minimizing sequences with finer and finer structure that converge weakly to nonminimizing states. In Model 1 the evolution is governed by a nonlinear partial differential equation closely related to that of one-dimensional viscoelasticity, the underlying static problem being of mixed type. In Model 2 the equation of motion is an integro—partial differential equation obtained from that in Model 1 by an averaging of the nonlinear term; the corresponding potential energy is nonlocal.After establishing global existence and uniqueness results, we consider the longtime behavior of the systems. We find that the two systems differ dramatically. In Model 1, for no solution does the energy tend to its global minimum ast . In Model 2, however, a large, dense set of solutions realize global minimizing sequences; in this case we are able to characterize, asymptotically, how energy escapes to infinity in wavenumber space in a manner that depends upon the smoothness of initial data. We also briefly discuss a third model that shares the stationary solutions of the second but is a gradient dynamical system.The models were designed to provide insight into the dynamical development of finer and finer microstructure that is observed in certain material phase transformations. They are also of interest as examples of strongly dissipative, infinite-dimensional dynamical systems with infinitely many unstable modes, the asymptotic fate of solutions exhibiting in the case of Model 2 an extreme sensitivity with respect to the initial data.     

Self-similar Spreading in a Merging-Splitting Model of Animal Group Size

Journal of Statistical Physics - In a recent study of certain merging-splitting models of animal-group size (Degond et al. in J Nonlinear Sci 27(2):379–424, 2017), it was shown that an...     

Non-Self-Similar Behavior in the LSW Theory of Ostwald Ripening

The classical Lifshitz–Slyozov–Wagner theory of domain coarsening predicts asymptotically self-similar behavior for the size distribution of a dilute system of particles that evolve by diffusional mass transfer with a common mean field. Here we consider the long-time behavior of measure-valued solutions for systems in which particle size is uniformly bounded, i.e., for initial measures of compact support. We prove that the long-time behavior of the size distribution depends sensitively on the initial distribution of the largest particles in the system. Convergence to the classically predicted smooth similarity solution is impossible if the initial distribution function is comparable to any finite power of distance to the end of the support. We give a necessary criterion for convergence to other self-similar solutions, and conditional stability theorems for some such solutions. For a dense set of initial data, convergence to any self-similar solution is impossible.