Symmetry-breaking bifurcation of periodic solutions for a free-boundary tumor model

Abstract

In this paper, we consider a free boundary multi-layer tumor model that incorporates a $T-$periodic provision of external nutrients $\Phi(t)$. The simplified model contains three parameters: the mean of periodic external nutrients $\Phi(t)$, the threshold concentration $\widetilde{\sigma}$ for proliferation and the cell to cell adhesiveness coefficient $\gamma$. We first study the flat solution and give a complete classification about $\frac{1}{T} \int_0^T \Phi(t) d t$ and $\widetilde{\sigma}$ according to global stability of zero equilibrium solution or global stability of the positive periodic solution. Precisely, (i) a zero flat solution is globally stable under the flat perturbations if and only if $\widetilde{\sigma} \geqslant \frac{1}{T} \int_0^T \Phi(t) d t$; (ii) If $\widetilde{\sigma}<\frac{1}{T} \int_0^T \Phi(t) d t$, then there exists a unique positive flat solution $\left(\sigma_*(y, t), p_*(y, t), { \rho_*(t)}\right)$ with period $T$ and it is a global attractor of all positive flat solutions for all $\gamma>0$. We further investigate periodic solutions bifurcating from the flat periodic solution $\left(\sigma_*(y, t), p_*(y, t), { \rho_*(t)}\right)$. By periodicity and symmetry, we not only give symmetry-breaking periodic solutions for all positive parameter $\gamma_j$, but also show the existence of a plethora of periodic bifurcations. For the free boundary tumor problem, this is the first result of the existence of periodic bifurcations.