Self-similar solutions for the LSW model with encounters (Q1032877)

The authors consider a modification of the classical LSW model (Lifshitz, Slyozov and Wagner) for domain coarsening of a dilute system via diffusional mass transfer. In the new model, the occasional merging of particles is taken into account. This is the so-called LSW model with encounters. The aim of the paper is to study the stationary solutions for this model when some parameter (the volume fraction covered by the particles) is small. The main result says that for a sufficiently small value of the small parameter, there exists an exponentially decaying stationary solution. Moreover, it is shown that this solution is isolated in a certain function space, i.e., there is no other solution with exponential tail in a sufficiently small neighbourhood of the LSW solution. The proof relies on setting up a suitable fixed point problem in an appropriate function space and determine asymptotic estimates of the solution to a corresponding homogeneous problem.