Existence of multi-dimensional pulsating fronts for KPP equations: a new formulation approach (Q6039195)

This paper offers a new proof for a celebrated result on the existence of pulsating fronts for a spatially periodic KPP reaction-diffusion equation. The first proofs relied on either a regularization of the degenerate elliptic equation satisfied by the pulsating front [\textit{H. Berestycki} and \textit{F. Hamel}, Commun. Pure Appl. Math. 55, No. 8, 949--1032 (2002; Zbl 1024.37054)], or on dynamical systems theory together with a recursive argument [\textit{H. F. Weinberger}, J. Math. Biol. 45, No. 6, 511--548 (2002; Zbl 1058.92036)]. Here, the authors start from the observation that the original parabolic problem is space-time periodic in any frame moving in a direction with rational coordinates. This allows the use of a fixed point approach without the technicalities of a regularization process as in [Berestycki and Hamel, loc. cit.]. Travelling fronts in directions with irrational coordinates can finally be recovered by a limiting argument.