Wasserstein kernels for one-dimensional diffusion problems (Q2643451)

The inhomogeneous diffusion problem of the type \[ u_t -f(u)_{xx} =g(x,t,u) \quad \text{in } (0,1)\times(0,T) \quad \text{and} \quad f(u)_x=0 \quad \text{on } \{0,1\}\times(0,T) \tag \(P_f\) \] with certain initial and Neumann boundary conditions is studied in this paper. First weak solution and generalized solution are defined. For investigated essential features of the solution that depend on data of the problem (\(P_f\)) the concept of Wasserstein kernel associated to above problem is introduced. For this purpose first so called Wasserstien distance is defined and special functional \(S_f(u)\) is presented. A solution of problem \((P_f)\) is a gradinet flow of \(S_f\) on a certain manifold with respect to the Wasserstein distance. The approximants for the weak solution are obtained by time-step discretizing the gradient flow. The unique solution of presented iterative scheme is derived. Then the boundary value problem which is called the \(k\)-th Wasserstein kernel associated with the problem \((P_f)\) is presented. This concept is then discussed for two main cases: heat flow and porous media and one-phase Stefan problem. Features of the initial data are shown to propagate to the weak solution at almost all time levels. Theoretical results are confirmed also by numerical simulations.