Coexistence in the competition model with diffusion (Q1316632)

Our aim in this paper is to study the solution set of the following elliptic system in one or more space dimensions \[ \Delta u+ u(\lambda- u- bv)=0, \quad \Delta v+ v(\mu- cu- v)=0, \qquad u|_{\partial \Omega}= v|_{\partial \Omega} =0, \tag{1} \] where \(x\) lies in an open bounded set \(\Omega \subset \mathbb{R}^n\). This is the Lotka-Volterra competition model, with \(\lambda\), \(\mu\), \(b\), and \(c\) strictly positive parameters. The corresponding predator-prey model takes a similar form but has one of \(b\) or \(c\) negative. The equations define the steady state solutions of the time dependent parabolic problem with the r.h.s.'s equal to \(d_1^{-1} u_t\) and \(d_2^{-1} v_t\), respectively, where \(d_1\) and \(d_2\) are diffusion coefficients. We attempt to furnish a systematic method to study the shape of the set of values of \((\lambda, \mu)\) for which coexistence is possible, and analyse how this set varies when the other parameters involved in the model vary (in our prototype, \(b\) and \(c\)). The basic idea is first to fix \(b\) and \(c\) and ascertain the shape of the set of values of \((\lambda, \mu)\) for which coexistence occurs, as well as the structure of the coexistence manifold (stability, multiplicity results, \dots). Then we vary \(b\) and \(c\) to analyze how the geometry of that set is modified when these parameters change. This analysis clarifies the coexistence phenomenon in our prototype model. A variety of techniques, such as numerical analysis, bifurcation theory, elliptic theory, and variational inequalities, are used in the analysis. In Section 2 we motivate our study by discussing some numerical results based on path following techniques and spectral-collocation methods. In Section 3 we introduce the bifurcation equation which governs the bifurcations of the branch of coexistence solutions from the semi-trivial branches. The construction of coexistence wedges, using eigenvalue estimates which are sharper than those quoted previously in the literature, is described in Section 4, and the global analysis of bifurcation directions is studied in Section 5. The Appendix contains some of the details of the derivations and discussions of the bifurcation equation.