The shape of expansion induced by a line with fast diffusion in Fisher-KPP equations (Q273199)

In this paper, the following system of reaction-diffusion equations is considered: \[ \partial_t u=D\partial_{xx}u+\nu v|_{y=0}-\mu u,\quad\text{for \(x\in\mathbb{R}\) and \(t>0\),} \] \[ \partial_t v=d\Delta v+f(v),\quad\text{for \((x,y)\in\mathbb{R}\times (0,+\infty)\) and \(t>0\),} \] together with the flux condition \(d\partial_y v|_{y=0}=\nu v|_{y=0}-\mu u\) for \(x\in\mathbb{R}\) and \(t>0\), and appropriate initial conditions. The parameters \(d,D,\mu\) and \(\nu\) are assumed to be positive constants; the nonlinearity \(f\) is required to satisfy the usual KPP type conditions. One in particular is interested in the regime of fast diffusion along the line \(\{y=0\}\), i.e. \(D>d\), and its effects on the spreading of the density \(v\) on the upper half-plane \(\mathbb{R}\times (0,+\infty)\). In the authors' article [J. Math. Biol. 66, No. 4--5, 743--766 (2013; Zbl 1270.35264)], it was shown that the system above admits classical solutions and that there exists an asymptotic speed of spreading in the direction of the line \(\{y=0\}\) which is larger than the usual KPP speed \(c_K=2\sqrt{df'(0)}\) if and only if \(D>2d\). The present paper is aimed at extending this result to arbitrary directions. In a nutshell, there exists an even, angle-dependent speed function \(w_*\in C^1([-\pi/2,\pi/2])\) such that the solution \(v\) spreads at asymptotic velocity \(w_\ast(\vartheta)\) in the direction \((\sin\vartheta,\cos\vartheta)\). Moreover, there exists a critical angle \(\vartheta_0\in (0,\pi/2]\) such that \(w_\ast=c_K\) in \([0,\vartheta_0]\) and \(w_\ast'>0\) in \((\vartheta_0,\pi/2]\). This means that the spreading speed is not influenced by the diffusion on the line up to the critical value \(\vartheta_0\). Furthermore, it is shown that \(\vartheta_0<\pi/2\) if and only if \(D>2d\): only sufficiently large diffusivity on the line causes an effect.