On a Keller--Segel System with Density-Suppressed Motility, Indirect Signal Production, and External Sources

Abstract

This paper investigates an initial-Neumann boundary value problem for a Keller--Segel system with parabolic-parabolic-ODE coupling. The model incorporates a signal-dependent, non-increasing motility function that, through indirect signal production, captures a self-trapping effect suppressing cellular movement at high densities. We establish the global existence of classical solutions in arbitrary spatial dimensions for a broad class of non-increasing motility functions, both with and without external source terms. Furthermore, we demonstrate that any external damping source exhibiting superlinear growth ensures uniform-in-time boundedness. Conversely, in the absence of such damping, solutions may become unbounded as time tends to infinity. More precisely, in the two-dimensional homogeneous case with the exponentially decaying motility function $\gamma(v) = e^{-v}$, a critical mass phenomenon emerges: classical solutions remain uniformly bounded for subcritical initial mass, while supercritical initial masses can lead to infinite-time blow-up. Our analysis relies on the construction of carefully designed auxiliary functions along with refined comparison methods and iteration arguments.