Special Session 135: Dynamical Systems in Mathematical Biology: Epidemiology, Population Dynamics, and Reaction Networks

Smoluchowski coagulation equation with a flux of dust particles
Marina Ferreira
CNRS, University of Toulouse
France
Co-Author(s):    
Abstract:
The Smoluchowski coagulation equation is a classical equation describing the distribution of particle sizes undergoing binary coagulation. It arises in many areas of science, including aerosol science, molecular biology, and ecology. Despite extensive study for over a century, it continues to pose significant analytical challenges, particularly concerning long-time behavior for general coagulation kernels. Recently, an existence theory for nontrivial steady states has been developed for a large class of kernels describing coagulation in open systems. We construct a time-dependent solution that is expected to converge to a nontrivial steady state, and prove this convergence for the constant kernel with zero initial data. The solution satisfies a nonzero flux boundary condition describing a constant input of dust particles. We show that this dust is instantaneously converted into particles, so that none remains in the system, and the total mass grows linearly in time. The construction applies to a broad class of non-gelling kernels for which stationary solutions exist; in the complementary regime, no such type of solutions with flux exist. (Based on a joint work with Aleksis Vuoksenmaa - Sapienza University)