Constrained control of gene-flow models

Abstract

In ecology and population dynamics, gene-flow refers to the transfer of a trait from one population to another. This phenomenon appears in studying the evolution of social features, such as languages. From the mathematical point of view, gene-flow is modelled using bistable reaction-diffusion equations. The unknown is the proportion $p$ of the population possessing a certain trait, within a population $N$. Gene-flow is taken into account by assuming that the population density $N$ depends either on $p$ or on the location $x$. Recent applications stemming from mosquito-borne disease control problems or from the study of bilingualism have called for the investigation of the controllability properties of these models. At the mathematical level, this corresponds to boundary control problems and, since we are working with proportions, the control $u$ has to satisfy the constraints $0\leq u \leq 1$. In this article, we provide a thorough analysis of the influence of the gene-flow effect on boundary controllability properties. We prove that, when the population density $N$ only depends on the trait proportion $p$, the geometry of the domain is the only criterion that has to be considered. We then tackle the case of population densities $N$ varying in $x$. We first prove that, when $N$ varies slowly in $x$ and when the domain is narrow enough, controllability always holds. We then consider the case of sharp fluctuations in $N$: we give examples that prove that controllability may fail. Conversely, we give examples of $N$ such that controllability will always be guaranteed. All negative controllability results are proved by showing the existence of non-trivial stationary states, which act as barriers. The existence of such solutions and the methods of proof are of independent interest. Our article is completed by several numerical experiments that confirm our analysis.