Stable boundary layers in a diffusion problem with nonlinear reaction at the boundary (Q1880222)

The authors consider the evolution equation \(u_t-\varepsilon\Delta u=0\) (where \(t>0\) and the spatial variable belongs to a bounded domain \(\Omega\subset \mathbb{R}^2\)), with the initial condition \(u(\cdot,0)=\psi(\cdot)\in H^1(\Omega)\) and the following nonlinear reaction acting on the boundary \(\Gamma\) of \(\Omega\): \(\varepsilon \frac{\partial u}{\partial n}+u(1-u)(c(x)-u)=0\). Here, \(\frac{\partial u}{\partial n}\) is the outward normal derivative and \(c\in C^1(\Gamma)\) satisfies \(0<c(x)<1\) and a transversality condition at the transition points (the points \(z\) with \(c(z)=1/2\)). The convergence of the patterns \(u_{\varepsilon}\) to \(u_0\) is studied. The existence of the non-constant stable equilibria was shown in a previous article [Fields Inst. Commun. 31, 13--18 (2002; Zbl 1016.37041)]. The authors prove the \(L^{\infty}\)-convergence of these solutions outside small neighborhoods of the transition points. The stability regions as the parameter goes to zero are also studied. A sequence of nested regions \(R_n\) around the limiting profile \(u_0\) is constructed (\(R_n\subset R_{n-1}\)), such that, for \(0<\varepsilon<\varepsilon(n)\), if an initial condition is taken in \(R_n\), the solution of the evolution problem does not leave \(R_{n-1}\) for all \(t>0\). These regions are independent of \(\varepsilon\) and their intersection is the limiting profile \(u_0\).