Maximal and minimal spreading speeds for reaction diffusion equations in nonperiodic slowly varying media (Q715721)

The authors study the asymptotic behavior of the solutions of the Fisher-KPP equation in a heterogeneous medium, \[ \partial_t u = \partial_{xx} u + f(x,u), \] associated with a compactly supported initial datum. A typical nonlinearity considered is \(f(x,u) = \mu_0 (\phi (x)) u(1-u)\), where \(\mu_0\) is a 1-periodic function and \(\phi\) is a \(\mathcal{C}^1\) increasing function that satisfies \(\lim_{x\to +\infty} \phi (x) = +\infty\) and \(\lim_{x\to +\infty} \phi' (x) = 0\). They exhibit two different behaviors for \(u\) for large times, depending on the speed of the convergence of \(\phi\) at infinity. If \(\phi\) grows sufficiently slowly, then they prove that the spreading speed of \(u\) oscillates between two distinct values. If \(\phi\) grows rapidly, then they compute explicitly a unique and well determined speed of propagation \(w_\infty\), arising from the limiting problem of an infinite period. They also give a heuristic interpretation for these two behaviors.