On non-standard finite difference models of reaction-diffusion equations (Q1765420)

The authors discuss different finite difference schemes for the problem: \[ {\partial u\over\partial t}= {\partial^2 u\over\partial x^2}+ r(u),\quad u(x,0)= f(x). \] The main problem is which of the following physical properties of the reaction-diffusion problem: (P1) linear stability, (P2) conservation of energy of the stationary equation; (P3) boundedness and positivity condition \(0\leq f\leq 1\Rightarrow 0\leq u\leq 1\), are inherited by difference schemes of the form \[ \partial_{\Delta t} u^k_m= \partial^2_{\Delta x}u^k_m+ r_{\Delta t,\Delta x}(u^k_m). \] According to which property is preserved we have three types of stability. The subsequent sections treat these stabilities and indicate how to construct the corresponding difference schemes. In order to display the desired properties special functional relations between the steps sizes must be given. Numerical tests confirm the expected results.