Unstable and Stable Galaxy Models

To determine the stability and instability of a given steady galaxy configuration is one of the fundamental problems in the Vlasov theory for galaxy dynamics. In this article, we study the stability of isotropic spherical symmetric galaxy models $f_{0}(E)$, for which the distribution function $f_{0}$ depends on the particle energy $E$ only. In the first part of the article, we derive the first sufficient criterion for linear instability of $f_{0}(E):$ $f_{0}(E)$ is linearly unstable if the second-order operator $$A_{0}\equiv-\Delta+4\pi\int f_{0}^{\prime}(E)\{I-\mathcal{P}\}dv$$ has a negative direction, where $\mathcal{P}$ is the projection onto the function space $\{g(E,L)\},$ $L$ being the angular momentum [see the explicit formula (\ref{A0-radial})]. In the second part of the article, we prove that for the important King model, the corresponding $A_{0}$ is positive definite. Such a positivity leads to the nonlinear stability of the King model under all spherically symmetric perturbations.Comment: to appear in Comm. Math. Phy

A sharp stability criterion for the Vlasov-Maxwell system

We consider the linear stability problem for a 3D cylindrically symmetric equilibrium of the relativistic Vlasov-Maxwell system that describes a collisionless plasma. For an equilibrium whose distribution function decreases monotonically with the particle energy, we obtained a linear stability criterion in our previous paper. Here we prove that this criterion is sharp; that is, there would otherwise be an exponentially growing solution to the linearized system. Therefore for the class of symmetric Vlasov-Maxwell equilibria, we establish an energy principle for linear stability. We also treat the considerably simpler periodic 1.5D case. The new formulation introduced here is applicable as well to the nonrelativistic case, to other symmetries, and to general equilibria

Traveling Wave Solutions of a Reaction-Diffusion Equation with State-Dependent Delay

This paper is concerned with the traveling wave solutions of a reaction-diffusion equation with state-dependent delay. When the birth function is monotone, the existence and nonexistence of monotone traveling wave solutions are established. When the birth function is not monotone, the minimal wave speed of nontrivial traveling wave solutions is obtained. The results are proved by the construction of upper and lower solutions and application of the fixed point theorem

Coinvasion-Coexistence Traveling Wave Solutions of an Integro-Difference Competition System

This paper is concerned with the traveling wave solutions of an integro-difference competition system, of which the purpose is to model the coinvasion-coexistence process of two competitors with age structure. The existence of nontrivial traveling wave solutions is obtained by constructing generalized upper and lower solutions. The asymptotic and nonexistence of traveling wave solutions are proved by combining the theory of asymptotic spreading with the idea of contracting rectangle