A Hamilton-Jacobi approach for front propagation in kinetic equations

In this paper we use the theory of viscosity solutions for Hamilton-Jacobi equations to study propagation phenomena in kinetic equations. We perform the hydrodynamic limit of some kinetic models thanks to an adapted WKB ansatz. Our models describe particles moving according to a velocity-jump process, and proliferating thanks to a reaction term of monostable type. The scattering operator is supposed to satisfy a maximum principle. When the velocity space is bounded, we show, under suitable hypotheses, that the phase converges towards the viscosity solution of some constrained Hamilton-Jacobi equation which effective Hamiltonian is obtained solving a suitable eigenvalue problem in the velocity space. In the case of unbounded velocities, the non-solvability of the spectral problem can lead to different behavior. In particular, a front acceleration phenomena can occur. Nevertheless, we expect that when the spectral problem is solvable one can extend the convergence result

A kinetic eikonal equation

We analyse the linear kinetic transport equation with a BGK relaxation operator. We study the large scale hyperbolic limit (t,x)\to (t/\eps,x/\eps). We derive a new type of limiting Hamilton-Jacobi equation, which is analogous to the classical eikonal equation derived from the heat equation with small diffusivity. We prove well-posedness of the phase problem and convergence towards the viscosity solution of the Hamilton-Jacobi equation. This is a preliminary work before analysing the propagation of reaction fronts in kinetic equations

The Bramson delay in the non-local Fisher-KPP equation

We consider the non-local Fisher-KPP equation modeling a population with individuals competing with each other for resources with a strength related to their distance, and obtain the asymptotics for the position of the invasion front starting from a localized population. Depending on the behavior of the competition kernel at infinity, the location of the front is either $2t - ({3}/2)\log t + O(1)$, as in the local case, or $2t - O(t^\beta)$ for some explicit $\beta \in (0,1)$. Our main tools here are a local-in-time Harnack inequality and an analysis of the linearized problem with a suitable moving Dirichlet boundary condition. Our analysis also yields, for any $\beta\in(0,1)$, examples of Fisher-KPP type non-linearities $f_\beta$ such that the front for the local Fisher-KPP equation with reaction term $f_\beta$ is at $2t - O(t^\beta)$

Super-linear spreading in local and non-local cane toads equations

In this paper, we show super-linear propagation in a nonlocal reaction-diffusion-mutation equation modeling the invasion of cane toads in Australia that has attracted attention recently from the mathematical point of view. The population of toads is structured by a phenotypical trait that governs the spatial diffusion. In this paper, we are concerned with the case when the diffusivity can take unbounded values, and we prove that the population spreads as $t^{3/2}$. We also get the sharp rate of spreading in a related local model

Exponential decay to equilibrium for a fibre lay-down process on a moving conveyor belt

We show existence and uniqueness of a stationary state for a kinetic Fokker-Planck equation modelling the fibre lay-down process in the production of non-woven textiles. Following a micro-macro decomposition, we use hypocoercivity techniques to show exponential convergence to equilibrium with an explicit rate assuming the conveyor belt moves slow enough. This work is an extension of (Dolbeault et al., 2013), where the authors consider the case of a stationary conveyor belt. Adding the movement of the belt, the global Gibbs state is not known explicitly. We thus derive a more general hypocoercivity estimate from which existence, uniqueness and exponential convergence can be derived. To treat the same class of potentials as in (Dolbeault et al., 2013), we make use of an additional weight function following the Lyapunov functional approach in (Kolb et al., 2013)

Propagation in a kinetic reaction-transport equation: travelling waves and accelerating fronts

In this paper, we study the existence and stability of travelling wave solutions of a kinetic reaction-transport equation. The model describes particles moving according to a velocity-jump process, and proliferating thanks to a reaction term of monostable type. The boundedness of the velocity set appears to be a necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of positive travelling waves. The minimal speed of propagation of waves is obtained from an explicit dispersion relation. We construct the waves using a technique of sub- and supersolutions and prove their \eb{weak} stability in a weighted $L^2$ space. In case of an unbounded velocity set, we prove a superlinear spreading. It appears that the rate of spreading depends on the decay at infinity of the velocity distribution. In the case of a Gaussian distribution, we prove that the front spreads as $t^{3/2}$

The Bramson delay in the non-local Fisher-KPP equation

We consider the non-local Fisher-KPP equation modeling a population with individuals competing with each other for resources with a strength related to their distance, and obtain the asymptotics for the position of the invasion front starting from a localized population. Depending on the behavior of the competition kernel at infinity, the location of the front is either $2t - ({3}/2)\log t + O(1)$, as in the local case, or $2t - O(t^\beta)$ for some explicit $\beta \in (0,1)$. Our main tools here are alocal-in-time Harnack inequality and an analysis of the linearized problem with a suitable moving Dirichlet boundary condition. Our analysis also yields, for any $\beta\in(0,1)$, examples of Fisher-KPP type non-linearities $f\_\beta$ such that the front for the localFisher-KPP equation with reaction term $f\_\beta$ is at $2t - O(t^\beta)$

A Hamilton-Jacobi approach for a model of population structured by space and trait

International audienceWe study a non-local parabolic Lotka-Volterra type equation describing a population structured by a space variable x 2 Rd and a phenotypical trait 2 . Considering diffusion, mutations and space-local competition between the individuals, we analyze the asymptotic (long- time/long-range in the x variable) exponential behavior of the solutions. Using some kind of real phase WKB ansatz, we prove that the propagation of the population in space can be described by a Hamilton-Jacobi equation with obstacle which is independent of . The effective Hamiltonian is derived from an eigenvalue problem. The main difficulties are the lack of regularity estimates in the space variable, and the lack of comparison principle due to the non-local term

Travelling waves for the cane toads equation with bounded traits.

20 pagesIn this paper, we study propagation in a nonlocal reaction-diffusion-mutation model describing the invasion of cane toads in Australia. The population of toads is structured by a space variable and a phenotypical trait and the space-diffusivity depends on the trait. We use a Schauder topological degree argument for the construction of some travelling wave solutions of the model. The speed $c^*$ of the wave is obtained after solving a suitable spectral problem in the trait variable. An eigenvector arising from this eigenvalue problem gives the flavor of the profile at the edge of the front. The major difficulty is to obtain uniform $L^\infty$ bounds despite the combination of non local terms and an heterogeneous diffusivity