Refined regularity and stabilization properties in a degenerate haptotaxis system (Q2309179)

Haptotaxis is a process of tumor invasion consisting in migration of cancer cells from regions with low density of fiber tissues to places with their higher densities. The authors consider the system \[u_t=(d(x)u)_{xx}-(d(x)uw_x)_x,\] \[w_t=-ug(w),\] with suitable boundary conditions, modelling haptotaxis in a one-dimensional heterogeneous medium. Allowing degeneracy of the diffusion coefficient \(d\), i.e. \(\{x\in\Omega:d(x)=0\}\ne\emptyset\), but assuming that \(\int_\Omega \frac{1}{d^2}<\infty\), strong convergence of solutions \(u(.,t)\to\frac{\mu_\infty}{d}\) as \(t\to\infty\) is proved in \(L^p(\Omega)\) for each \(p\in(1,2)\) for some constant \(\mu_\infty\), as well as regularity property \(du\in L^\infty(0,\infty);L^p(\Omega))\) for each \(p\in(1,\infty)\). In the proofs, energy estimates are applied to a regularized fully parabolic problem.