Pattern formation in a pseudo-parabolic equation

Abstract

We address the propagation into an unstable state of a localised disturbance in a forward-backward diffusion pseudo-parabolic equation. Three asymptotic regimes are distinguished as t tends to infinity, the first being a regime ahead of the propagating disturbance that is dominated by the linearised equation. The analysis of this leads to the determination of the speed of the leading edge of the propagating disturbance and implies that in the second, transition, regime the solution takes the form of a modulated travelling wave. In a third regime the solution approaches a nearly periodic steady state, where the period is obtained on matching with the modulated travelling wave. Detailed analysis of this pattern is also presented. The analysis is completed by contrasting the formal asymptotic description of the solution with numerical computations. It is assumed for the above analysis that the initial disturbance decays faster than an exponential rate; in this case a critical exponential decay rate at the leading edge of the front and propagation speed are found. We investigate the wave speed selection mechanism for exponentially decaying initial conditions. It is found that whenever the initial data behave as a real exponential (no matter how slow the rate of the decay) the speed selected is that selected by fast decaying initial conditions. However, for initial conditions with a complex exponential we find regimes of the decay rate and the wavelength for which the front propagates at a faster wave speed. This is investigated numerically and is worth emphasising since it gives a different scenario for wave speed behaviour than that exhibited by well-studied semilinear reaction-diffusion equations: there are initial conditions with exponential decay faster than the critical one for which the front propagates with a speed faster than the critical one.