Vortex formation for a non-local interaction model with Newtonian repulsion and superlinear mobility

Abstract

We consider density solutions for gradient flow equations of the form $u_t = \nabla \cdot ( γ(u) \nabla \mathrm N(u))$, where $\mathrm N$ is the Newtonian repulsive potential in the whole space $\mathbb R^d$ with the nonlinear convex mobility $γ(u)=u^α$, and $α>1$. We show that solutions corresponding to compactly supported initial data remain compactly supported for all times leading to moving free boundaries as in the linear mobility case $γ(u)=u$. For linear mobility it was shown that there is a special solution in the form of a disk vortex of constant intensity in space $u=c_1t^{-1}$ supported in a ball that spreads in time like $c_2t^{1/d}$, thus showing a discontinuous leading front or shock. Our present results are in sharp contrast with the case of concave mobilities of the form $γ(u)=u^α$, with $0<α<1$ studied in [9]. There, we developed a well-posedness theory of viscosity solutions that are positive everywhere and moreover display a fat tail at infinity. Here, we also develop a well-posedness theory of viscosity solutions that in the radial case leads to a very detail analysis allowing us to show a waiting time phenomena. This is a typical behavior for nonlinear degenerate diffusion equations such as the porous medium equation. We will also construct explicit self-similar solutions exhibiting similar vortex-like behaviour characterizing the long time asymptotics of general radial solutions under certain assumptions. Convergent numerical schemes based on the viscosity solution theory are proposed analysing their rate of convergence. We complement our analytical results with numerical simulations ilustrating the proven results and showcasing some open problems.