Fujita blow up phenomena and hair trigger effect: the role of dispersal tails

We consider the nonlocal diffusion equation $\partial \_t u=J*u-u+u^{1+p}$ in the whole of $\R ^N$. We prove that the Fujita exponent dramatically depends on the behavior of the Fourier transform of the kernel $J$ near the origin, which is linked to the tails of $J$. In particular, for compactly supported or exponentially bounded kernels, the Fujita exponent is the same as that of the nonlinear Heat equation $\partial \_tu=\Delta u+u^{1+p}$. On the other hand, for kernels with algebraic tails, the Fujita exponent is either of the Heat type or of some related Fractional type, depending on the finiteness of the second moment of $J$. As an application of the result in population dynamics models, we discuss the hair trigger effect for $\partial \_t u=J*u-u+u^{1+p}(1-u)

Varying the direction of propagation in reaction-diffusion equations in periodic media

We consider a multidimensional reaction-diffusion equation of either ignition or monostable type, involving periodic heterogeneity, and analyze the dependence of the propagation phenomena on the direction. We prove that the (minimal) speed of the underlying pulsating fronts depends continuously on the direction of propagation, and so does its associated profile provided it is unique up to time shifts. We also prove that the spreading properties \cite{Wein02} are actually uniform with respect to the direction

Replicator-mutator equations with quadratic fitness

This work completes our previous analysis on models arising in evolutionary genetics. We consider the so-called replicator-mutator equation, when the fitness is quadratic. This equation is a heat equation with a harmonic potential, plus a specific nonlocal term. We give an explicit formula for the solution, thanks to which we prove that when the fitness is non-positive (harmonic potential), solutions converge to a universal stationary Gaussian for large time, whereas when the fitness is non-negative (inverted harmonic potential), solutions always become extinct in finite time.Comment: 12 page

Convergence to a propagating front in a degenerate Fisher-KPP equation with advection

We consider a Fisher-KPP equation with density-dependent diffusion and advection, arising from a chemotaxis-growth model. We study its behavior as a small parameter, related to the thickness of a diffuse interface, tends to zero. We analyze, for small times, the emergence of transition layers induced by a balance between reaction and drift effects. Then we investigate the propagation of the layers. Convergence to a free-boundary limit problem is proved and a sharp estimate of the thickness of the layers is provided