The homogenized equation of a heterogeneous reaction-diffusion model involving pulsating traveling fronts (Q389527)

The author studies the limit behaviour, when \(L \to 0^+ \), of a family of problems like \[ \begin{cases} \frac{\partial u}{\partial t} = \frac{\partial}{\partial x} \left( a_L(x) \frac{\partial u}{\partial x} \right) + f_L (x,u), \\ u \left( t + \frac{kL}{c} , x \right) = u \left( t , x + kL\right) \quad \text{for each } k \in {\mathbb Z}, \\ 0 \leqslant u(x,t) \leqslant p_L(x) \, , \\ \lim_{x \to -\infty} u(t,x) = 0 \quad \text{and} \quad \lim_{x \to +\infty} \big( u(t,x) - p_L(x) \big) = 0, \end{cases} \] where \(t,x\in\mathbb R\), \(f_L(x,t) = f(x/L,t)\) for some 1-periodic function \(f\), \(a_L(x) = a(x/L)\) for some 1-periodic function \(a\) such that \(\alpha_1 \leqslant a(x) \leqslant \alpha_2\) with \(\alpha_1, \alpha_2 > 0\). The author assume that there is \(M \geqslant 0\) such that for all \(x\in\mathbb R\) \(f(x,0) = 0\), \(f(x,s) \leqslant 0\) for every \(s \geqslant M\), \(f(x,s) > 0\) for every \(s \in (0, M)\) and \(s \mapsto f(x,s)/s\) is decreasing for \(s>0\). A solution is called pulsating traveling front propagating from right to left with an effective speed \(c \not= 0\). The author proves that, if \(u_L\) is such pulsating traveling front, that \( u_L \to u_0 \quad L^2({\mathbb R}^2)\), where \(u_0\) satisfies \[ \frac{\partial u}{\partial t} = \langle a \rangle_H \frac{\partial^2 u_0}{\partial x^2} + g(u_0), \] where \(\langle a \rangle_H\) denotes the harmonic mean of \(a\), i.e. \(\langle a \rangle_H^{-1} = \int_0^1 a(x)^{-1} dx\), and \(g(s) = \int_0^1 f(x,s) dx\).