On a nonlocal model of image segmentation (Q2487148)

The authors study the modified Perona-Malik equation of the form \[ u_t-\nabla\cdot\Bigl[f(| \nabla v| )\Bigl(\nabla u+ {\nabla w\over\phi''(u)}\Bigr)\Bigr]+\beta(u-g)=0, \] where \[ v=\phi'(u)+w, \qquad w(t,x)=\int_\Omega{\mathcal K}(| x-y| )(1-2u(t,y))\,dy, \] and \(\Omega\subset\mathbb R^n\) is a bounded Lipschitzian domain. The problem is completed by the homogeneous Neumann boundary conditions and the initial condition \(u(0,\cdot)=g\), where \(0\leq g\leq1\). Under suitable assumptions on \(f,\phi,g,{\mathcal K}\) and \(\beta\) it is proved that the problem possesses a unique global solution which tends exponentially in time to a unique steady state. A discretization of the model is proposed and numerical examples are presented.