The equations describing the pulsating output of a laser containing a saturable absorber are investigated numerically and analytically. The laser admits a singular Hopf bifurcation to a nearly vertical branch of periodic solutions. Using asymptotic methods, we determine a simplified problem that describes the transition from harmonic to pulsating oscillations as the bifurcation parameter is changed. This transition occurs in a layer bounded by the Hopf bifurcation point, and by a critical point near which the branch of solutions becomes vertical.

In a recent paper devoted to the study of the superheating field attached to a semi-infinite superconductor, Chapman [1] constructs a family of approximate solutions of the Ginzburg–Landau system. This construction, based on a matching procedure, implicitly uses the existence of a family of solutions depending on a parameter c∈IR of the Painlevé equation in a semi-infinite interval (0, +∞)

with a Neumann condition at 0

and having a prescribed behaviour at +∞

In this paper we prove the existence of such a family of solutions and investigate its properties. Moreover, we prove that the second coefficient in Chapman's expansion of the superheating field is finite.

Assignment flows denote a class of dynamical models for contextual data labelling (classification) on graphs. We derive a novel parametrisation of assignment flows that reveals how the underlying information geometry induces two processes for assignment regularisation and for gradually enforcing unambiguous decisions, respectively, that seamlessly interact when solving for the flow. Our result enables to characterise the dominant part of the assignment flow as a Riemannian gradient flow with respect to the underlying information geometry. We consider a continuous-domain formulation of the corresponding potential and develop a novel algorithm in terms of solving a sequence of linear elliptic partial differential equations (PDEs) subject to a simple convex constraint. Our result provides a basis for addressing learning problems by controlling such PDEs in future work.

Three-dimensional nonstationary flow of a viscous incompressible liquid is investigated in a layer, driven by a nonuniform distribution of temperature on its free boundaries. If the temperature given on the layer boundaries is quadratically dependent on horizontal coordinates, external mass forces are absent, and the motion starts from rest then the free boundary problem for the Navier–Stokes equations has an ‘exact’ solution in terms of two independent variables. Here the free boundaries of the layer remain parallel planes and the distance between them must be also determined. In present paper, we formulate conditions for both the unique solvability of the reduced problem globally in time and the collapse of the solution in finite time. We further study qualitative properties of the solution such as its behaviour for large time (in the case of global solvability of the problem), and the asymptotics of the solution near the collapse moment in the opposite case.

We consider a one-dimensional stochastic model of sediment deposition in which the complete time history of sedimentation is the sum of a linear trend and a fractional Brownian motion wH(t) with self-similarity parameter H ∈ (0, 1). The thickness of the sedimentary layer as a function of time, d(t), looks like the Cantor staircase. The Hausdorff dimension of the points of growth of d(t) is found. We obtain the statistical distribution of gaps in the sedimentary record, periods of time during which the sediments have been eroded. These gaps define sedimentary unconformities. In the case H = 1/2 we obtain the statistical distribution of layer thicknesses between unconformities and investigate the multifractality of d(t). We show that the multifractal structures of d(t) and the local time function of Brownian motion are identical; hence d(t) is not a standard multifractal object. It follows that natural statistics based on local estimates of the sedimentation rate produce contradictory estimates of the range of local dimension for d(t). The physical object d(t) is interesting in that it involves the above anomalies, and also in its mechanism of fractality generation, which is different from the traditional multiplicative process.

The probability density for the solution yn of a stochastic difference equation is considered. Following Knessl et al. [1], it is shown to satisfy a master equation, which is solved asymptotically for large values of the index n. The method is illustrated by deriving the large deviation results for a sum of independent identically distributed random variables and for the joint density of two dependent sums. Then it is applied to a difference approximation to the Helmholtz equation in a random medium. A large deviation result is obtained for the probability density of the decay rate of a solution of this equation. Both the exponent and the pre-exponential factor are determined.

Diffusion-driven instability in systems of reaction-diffusion equations is a commonly used model for pattern formation in both embryology and ecology. In ecological applications, model parameters tend to oscillate in time, because of either daily or seasonal fluctuations in the environment. I investigate the effects of such fluctuations on diffusion-driven instability by considering analytically the possibility of Turing bifurcations when the parameter values (diffusion coefficients and kinetic parameters) oscillate in time between two sets of constant values, with a period that is either very short or very long compared to the time scale of the growth and predation kinetics. I show that oscillations in the kinetics can have quite different effects from oscillations in the dispersal terms. I also discuss the comparison between the solution forms predicted by linear theory and the numerical solutions of a simple nonlinear predator-prey model.

We consider the question of the existence/non-existence of solutions for the non-local nonlinear elliptic system which models a thermistor driven by a current source. Specifically, we show that for small input current there exists a solution, while this will not in general be the case for a sufficiently large current. A feature of our estimates is that the conditions for non-existence are determined by local criteria on the domain and the coefficients. Our basic tools for existence involve truncation, L2.μ estimates and fixed point arguments. Non-existence is obtained by averaging procedures and an application of Barta's Inequality.

We study a mean-field model of superconducting vortices in one and two dimensions. The existence of a weak solution and a steady-state solution of the model are proved. A special case of the steady-state problem is shown to be of the form of a free boundary problem. The solutions of this free boundary problem are investigated. It is also shown that the weak solution of the one-dimensional model is unique and satisfies an entropy inequality.

A non-linear reaction–diffusion system with cross-diffusion describing the COVID-19 outbreak is studied using the Lie symmetry method. A complete Lie symmetry classification is derived and it is shown that the system with correctly specified parameters admits highly non-trivial Lie symmetry operators, which do not occur for all known reaction–diffusion systems. The symmetries obtained are also applied for finding exact solutions of the system in the most interesting case from applicability point of view. It is shown that the exact solutions derived possess typical properties for describing the pandemic spread under 1D approximation in space and lead to the distributions, which qualitatively correspond to the measured data of the COVID-19 spread in Ukraine.

We describe and analyze a model of filtration combustion, in which a gas is forced at high pressure into a porous solid matrix so that after ignition and under favourable conditions a combustion wave can propagate through the medium. We consider the case of counter flow, where the gas is forced into the reaction zone through the unreacted part of the porous solid. Relations are derived for the steady state propagation of a planar combustion wave or front in the limit of high-activation energy, from which the propagation speed, reaction temperature, and reacted mass fraction of the solid product can be found in terms of the mass flux of the injected gas, the gas pressure and mass flux on exit from the front, and other physico-chemical parameters describing the system. Two distinct modes of combustion are discussed, corresponding to the reaction being driven to completion by exhaustion of either the gaseous or the solid component, these being referred to as the gas-deficient and solid-deficient modes of burning respectively. For both homogeneous and heterogeneous forms of the reaction rate we find that there is a critical inlet mass flux for the incoming gas below which steady state solutions no longer exist and that there are parameter values for which multiple steady states occur.

In this paper, we give exact solutions for the convective viscous Cahn--Hilliard equation. This equation with a general symmetric double-well potential and Burgers-type convective term was introduced by T. P. Witelski (1996 Studies in Applied Mathematics96, 277–300) to study the joint effects of nonlinear convection and viscosity. We consider this equation with a polynomial, generally asymmetric potential. We also consider both Burgers-type and cubic convective terms. We obtained exact travelling-wave solutions for both cases. For the former case, with an additional constraint on nonlinearity and viscosity, we also obtained an exact two-wave solution.

An equation governing the evolution of a Hele-Shaw free boundary flow in the presence of an arbitrary external potential – generalised Hele-Shaw flow – is derived in terms of the Schwarz function g(z, t) of the free boundary. This generalises the well-known equation ∂g/∂t = 2∂w/∂z, where w is the complex potential, which has been successfully employed in constructing many exact solutions in the absence of external potentials. The new equation is used to re-derive some known explicit solutions for equilibrium and time-dependent free boundary flows in the presence of external potentials, including those with singular potential fields, uniform gravity and centrifugal forces. Some new solutions are also constructed that variously describe equilibrium flows with higher order hydrodynamic singularities in the presence of electric point sources and an unsteady solution describing bubbles under the combined influence of strain and centrifugal potential.

We consider the one-dimensional and two-dimensional filtration-absorption equation ut = uΔu−(c−1)(∇u)2. The one-dimensional case was considered previously by Barenblatt et al. [4], where a special class of self-similar solutions was introduced. By the analogy with the 1D case we construct a family of axisymmetric solutions in 2D. We demonstrate numerically that the self-similar solutions obtained attract the solutions of non-self-similar Cauchy problems having the initial condition of compact support. The main analytical result we provide is the linear stability of the above self-similar solutions both in the 1D case and in the 2D case.

Schölte waves, waves bound to the interface between a fluid and an elastic half-space, are, for many material combinations, evanescent; as they propagate, they are damped due to radiation. A representation of the general evanescent Schölte wave is here obtained in terms of a solution to the membrane equation with complex speed, linked, at each instant, to a complex-valued harmonic function in a half-space. This derivation generalises one obtained recently for (non-evanescent) Rayleigh, Stoneley and Schölte waves. An alternative description is also obtained, in which the time-evolution of the normal displacement of the interface satisfies a first-order, complex-valued, non-local evolution equation. Amongst some explicit solutions obtained are decaying solutions allied to a general solution to the Helmholtz equation, and a solution closely related to a Gaussian beam. In the plane–strain case, the general Schölte wave splits into two disturbances, one right-travelling and one left-travelling, each being described at all times in terms of a harmonic function in a half-plane, decaying with depth yet having arbitrary boundary values. This representation highlights the dual elliptic–hyperbolic nature typical of guided waves and gives a surprisingly compact representation for the two-dimensional case.

We study the singular limit of the dimensionless phase-field equations

We consider two cases: either the space dimension is 1 and then ɛ tends to zero; or the solutions are radially symmetric and then both ɛ and α tend to zero. It turns out that, in the first case, the limiting functions solve the Stefan problem with kinetic undercooling, provided the initial temperature is small compared to the surface tension and the latent heat. In the second case, the limiting functions satisfy the Stefan problem coupled with the Gibbs–Thomson law for the melting temperature. We show, in addition, that the multiplicity of the interface is always one, in a sense to be explained at the end of § 1. As main tool we use energy type estimates, and prove that the formal first-order asymptotic expansion with respect to ɛ in fact gives an approximation of the exact solution. Our results hold without smoothness assumptions on the limiting Stefan problem.

We investigate the local behaviour at the boundary singularity for the following moving boundary problems: (i) Hele-Shaw flows in which the interface is initially non-analytic; (ii) power-law Hele-Shaw flows in which the interface contains a corner; (iii) Stefan problems in which the interface contains a corner. Both well-posed (‘injection’) and ill-posed (‘suction’) problems are considered. Related results for corner development in the presence of an impermeable boundary are also noted.

We investigate a non-isothermal diffuse-interface model that describes the dynamics of two-phase incompressible flows with thermo-induced Marangoni effect. The governing PDE system consists of the Navier--Stokes equations coupled with convective phase-field and energy transport equations, in which the surface tension, fluid viscosity and thermal diffusivity are allowed to be temperature dependent functions. First, we establish the existence and uniqueness of local strong solutions when the spatial dimension is two and three. Then, in the two-dimensional case, assuming that the L∞-norm of the initial temperature is suitably bounded with respect to the coefficients of the system, we prove the existence of global weak solutions as well as the existence and uniqueness of global strong solutions.

The motion of interfaces for a mass-conserving Allen–Cahn equation that are attached to the boundary of a two-dimensional domain is studied. In the limit of thin interfaces, the interface motion for this problem is known to be governed by an area-preserving mean curvature flow. A numerical front-tracking method, that allows for a numerical solution of this type of curvature flow, is used to compute the motion of interfaces that are attached orthogonally to the boundary. Results obtained from these computations are favourably compared with a previously-derived asymptotic result for the motion of attached interfaces that enclose a small area. The area-preserving mean curvature flow predicts that a semi-circular interface is stationary when it is attached to a flat segment of the boundary. For this case, the interface motion is shown to be metastable and an explicit characterization of the metastability is given.

We extend previous weak well-posedness results obtained in Frigeri et al. (2017, Solvability, Regularity, and Optimal Control of Boundary Value Problems for PDEs, Vol. 22, Springer, Cham, pp. 217–254) concerning a non-local variant of a diffuse interface tumour model proposed by Hawkins-Daarud et al. (2012, Int. J. Numer. Method Biomed. Engng.28, 3–24). The model consists of a non-local Cahn–Hilliard equation with degenerate mobility and singular potential for the phase field variable, coupled to a reaction–diffusion equation for the concentration of a nutrient. We prove the existence of strong solutions to the model and establish some high-order continuous dependence estimates, even in the presence of concentration-dependent mobilities for the nutrient variable in two spatial dimensions. Then, we apply the new regularity results to study an inverse problem identifying the initial tumour distribution from measurements at the terminal time. Formulating the Tikhonov regularised inverse problem as a constrained minimisation problem, we establish the existence of minimisers and derive first-order necessary optimality conditions.