``Traveling wave'' solutions of FitzHugh model with cross-diffusion (Q1006214)

The authors modify the FitzHugh-Nagumo reaction-diffusion system as a caricature of the Hodgkin-Huxley system of neuron firing by adding cross-diffusion \[ \begin{aligned} \varepsilon P_t &= -P^3+ P- Q+\delta Q_{xx}+\sigma P_{xx},\\ Q_t &= k_1P- Q- k_2,\end{aligned}\tag{1} \] where \(\delta\geq 0\) is the cross-diffusion coefficient. They look for travelling wave solutions \(P(x,k)= P(x+ ct)\equiv p(\xi)\), \(Q(x,t)= Q(x+ ct)\equiv q(\xi)\) of (1) with the speed \(c\) under the assumption \(\sigma= 0\). This ansatz leads to an ODE-system for \(p\) and \(q\) depending on some parameters. The qualitative investigation exhibits the existence of homoclinic orbits for different parameter constellations. This implies the existence of travelling waves which can be distinguished by their velocity (fast and slow) and their shape (monotone or nonmonotone tail). Here, the parameters \(\delta\) and \(c\) play a key role.