Persistence of spatial patterns produced by neural field equations (Q2499765)

The authors study an integro-differential equation defined on a spatially extended domain, which is a model of short term memory. Previous researchers have established the necessary conditions for the existence of two-bump stationary solutions of the equation when considering a Heaviside firing rate function and a coupling function of ``Mexican hat'' type. One such condition concerns the positiveness of the external stimulus which is quite difficult to establish under general assumptions. The authors address this problem and provide necessary conditions for the existence of two-bump stationary solutions. They also prove the existence of symmetric two-bump stationary solutions for a class of coupling functions and establish their linear stability.