Stability and bifurcation of equilibrium solutions of reaction-diffusion equations on an infinite space interval (Q761626)

The author studies stability and bifurcation properties of equilibrium solutions of the problem \[ u_t=u_{xx}+f(x,u,u_x,\alpha),\quad u_x(-\infty,t)=u_x(\infty,t)=0, \tag{*} \] with \(\alpha\) being a real bifurcation parameter. To this end, he writes (*) as operator equation \(du/dt=G(u,\alpha)\) in appropriate function spaces, and studies the Fréchet derivative \(G_u(u,\alpha)\) of the nonlinear part which, in general, is not Fredholm. For instance, given an equilibrium solution \((u_0,\alpha_0)\) (i.e. \(G(u_0,\alpha_0)=0)\), he provides a necessary condition on the spectrum of \(G_u(u_0,\alpha_0)\) for a change of stability at \((u_0,\alpha_0)\). Moreover, the shape of the set of equilibrium points near \((u_0,\alpha_0)\) is described in terms of derivatives of the operator \(G\).