Special Session 106: Nonlocal and Local Interactions in Population Dynamics: Mathematical Analysis and Numerical Approaches.

Challenging the Blow-up Threshold: Numerical Analysis of the Keller-Segel-Navier-Stokes System
Juan Vicente Guti\`errez-Santacreu
Universidad de Sevilla
Spain
Co-Author(s):    
Abstract:
This talk investigates the stability and singularity formation (blow-up) in the Keller-Segel-Navier-Stokes system, which models chemotaxis in fluid environments. While existing theory establishes a mass threshold of $2\pi$ for global existence, its optimality remains unresolved. We introduce a stabilized finite element method with shock-capturing to explore numerical blow-up scenarios, ensuring the preservation of key physical properties such as positivity and mass conservation. Our results indicate that the $2\pi$ threshold may not be sharp; we conjecture that the true critical value could be $4\pi$, as in the fluid-free Keller-Segel system. Additionally, numerical experiments reveal that stronger fluid flows can suppress singularity formation, effectively preventing chemotactic collapse.