The FitzHugh-Nagumo equations are known to admit traveling front solutions in one spatial dimension that are nonlinearly stable. This paper concerns the stability of traveling front solutions propagating on cylindrical surfaces. It is shown that such traveling fronts are nonlinearly stable on the surface of standard cylinders of constant radius. The analysis is extended to warped cylinders with slowly varying radius, where persistence of front-like solutions is established. Numerical simulations support the theoretical findings.
We introduce a spatially extended transport kinetic FitzHugh-Nagumo model with forced local interactions and prove that its hydrodynamic limit converges towards the classical nonlocal reaction-diffusion FitzHugh-Nagumo system. Our approach is based on a relative entropy method, where the macroscopic quantities of the kinetic model are compared with the solution to the nonlocal reaction-diffusion system. This approach allows to make the rigorous link between kinetic and reaction-diffusion models.
In this work a new mathematical model for complex neural networks is presented by the partly diffusive FitzHugh-Nagumo equations with ensemble boundary coupling. We analyze the dissipative dynamics and boundary coupling dynamics of the solution semiflow with sharp estimates. The exponential synchronization of this kind complex neural networks is proved under the condition that synaptic stimulation signal strength reaches a threshold quantitatively expressed.
We consider a spatially extended mesoscopic FitzHugh-Nagumo model with strong local interactions and prove that its asymptotic limit converges towards the classical nonlocal reaction-diffusion FitzHugh-Nagumo system. As the local interactions strongly dominate, the weak solution to the mesoscopic equation under consideration converges to the local equilibrium, which has the form of Dirac distribution concentrated to an averaged membrane potential. Our approach is based on techniques widely developed in kinetic theory (Wasserstein distance, relative entropy method), where macroscopic quantities…
In this paper we focus on a spatially extended FitzHugh-Nagumo model with interactions. In the regime where strong and local interactions dominate, we quantify how the probability density of neurons concentrates into a Dirac distribution. Previous work investigating this question have provided relative bounds in integrability spaces. Using a Hopf-Cole framework, we derive precise $L^\infty$ estimates using subtle explicit sub- and super- solutions which prove, with rates of convergence, that the blow up profile is Gaussian.
We introduce a geometrical extension of the FitzHugh-Nagumo equations describing propagation of electrical impulses in nerve axons. In this extension, the axon is modeled as a warped cylinder, rather than a straight line, as is usually done, while pulses propagate on its surface, as is the case with real axons. We prove the stability of electrical impulses for a standard cylinder and existence and stability of pulse-like solutions for warped cylinders whose radii are small and vary slowly along their lengths.
Formal asymptotic expansions have long been used to study the singularly perturbed Allen-Cahn type equations and reaction-diffusion systems, including in particular the FitzHugh-Nagumo system. Despite their successful role, it has been largely unclear whether or not such expansions really represent the actual profile of solutions with rather general initial data. By combining our earlier result and known properties of eternal solutions of the Allen-Cahn equation, we prove validity of the principal term of the formal expansions for a large class of solutions.
We consider a spatially extended mean-field model of a FitzHugh-Nagumo neural network, with a rescaled interaction kernel. Our main purpose is to prove that its asymptotic limit in the regime of strong local interactions converges toward a system of reaction-diffusion equations taking account for theaverage quantities of the network. Our approach is based on a modulated energy argument, to compare the macroscopic quantities computed from the solution of the transport equation, and the solution of the limit system. The main difficulty, compared to the literature, lies in the need of regularity …
Patterns and waves are basic and important phenomena that govern the dynamics of physical and biological systems. A common theme in investigating such systems is to identify the intrinsic factors responsible for such self-organization. The $Γ$-convergence is a well-known technique applicable to variational formulation in studying the concentration phenomena of stable patterns. A geometric variational functional associated with the $Γ$-limit of standing waves of FitzHugh-Nagumo system has recently been built. This article studies the $Γ$-limit of traveling waves. To the best of our knowledge, t…
The microscopic bidomain problem with FitzHhugh-Nagumo ionic transport is studied in the $L_p\!-\!L_q$-framework. Reformulating the problem as a semilinear evolution equation on the interface, local well-posedness is proved in strong as well as in weak settings. We obtain solvability for initial data in the critical spaces of the problem. For dimension $d\leq 3$, by means of energy estimates and a recent result of Serrin type, global existence is shown. Finally, stability of spatially constant equilibria is investigated, to the result that the stability properties of such equilibria parallel t…
A theory on bi-spatial random attractors developed recently by Li \emph{et al.} is extended to study stochastic Fitzhugh-Nagumo system driven by a non-autonomous term as well as a general multiplicative noise. By using the so-called notions of uniform absorption and uniformly pullback asymptotic compactness, it is showed that every generated random cocycle has a pullback attractor in $L^l(\mathbb{R}^N)\times L^2(\mathbb{R}^N)$ with $l\in(2,p]$, and the family of obtained attractors is upper semi-continuous at any intensity of noise. Moreover, if some additional conditions are added, then the s…
We consider an Allen-Cahn type equation with a bistable nonlinearity associated to a double-well potential whose well-depths can be slightly unbalanced, and where the coefficient of the nonlinear reaction term is very small. Given rather general initial data, we perform a rigorous analysis of both the generation and the motion of interface. More precisely we show that the solution develops a steep transition layer within a small time, and we present an optimal estimate for its width. We then consider a class of reaction-diffusion systems which includes the FitzHugh-Nagumo system as a special c…
The existence of a random attractor for the stochastic FitzHugh-Nagumo system defined on an unbounded domain is established. The pullback asymptotic compactness of the stochastic system is proved by uniform estimates on solutions for large space and time variables. These estimates are obtained by a cut-off technique.
This paper is devoted to pulse solutions in FitzHugh--Nagumo systems that are coupled parabolic equations with rapidly periodically oscillating coefficients. In the limit of vanishing periods, there arises a two-scale FitzHugh--Nagumo system, which qualitatively and quantitatively captures the dynamics of the original system. We prove existence and stability of pulses in the limit system and show their proximity on any finite time interval to pulse-like solutions of the original system.
Consider the bidomain equations subject to ionic transport described by the models of FitzHugh-Nagumo, Aliev-Panfilov, or Rogers-McCulloch. It is proved that this set of equations admits a unique, strong T-periodic solution provided it is innervated by T-periodic intra- and extracellular currents. The approach relies on a new periodic version of the classical Da Prato-Grisvard theorem on maximal L^p-regularity in real interpolation spaces.
The initial value problem P0, in all of the space, for the spatio - temporal FitzHugh - Nagumo equations is analyzed. When the reaction kinetics of the model can be outlined by means of piecewise linear approximations, then the solution of P0 is explicitly obtained. For periodic initial data are possible damped travelling waves and their speed of propagation is evaluated. The results imply applications also to the non linear case.
The existence of a pullback attractor is established for the singularly perturbed FitzHugh-Nagumo system defined on the entire space $R^n$ when external terms are unbounded in a phase space. The pullback asymptotic compactness of the system is proved by using uniform a priori estimates for far-field values of solutions. Although the limiting system has no global attractor, we show that the pullback attractors for the perturbed system with bounded external terms are uniformly bounded, and hence do not blow up as a small parameter approaches zero.
In this paper, we prove the existences of pullback attractors in $L^{p}(\mathbb{R}^N)\times L^{2}(\mathbb{R}^N)$ for stochastic Fitzhugh-Nagumo system driven by both additive noises and deterministic non-autonomous forcings. The nonlinearity is polynomial like growth with exponent $p-1$. The asymptotic compactness for the cocycle in $L^{p}(\mathbb{R}^N)\times L^{2}(\mathbb{R}^N)$ is proved by using asymptotic a priori method, where the plus and minus signs of the nonlinearity at large value are not required.
We investigate existence and uniqueness of solutions of a McKean-Vlasov evolution PDE representing the macroscopic behaviour of interacting Fitzhugh-Nagumo neurons. This equation is hypoelliptic, nonlocal and has unbounded coefficients. We prove existence of a solution to the evolution equation and non trivial stationary solutions. Moreover, we demonstrate uniqueness of the stationary solution in the weakly nonlinear regime. Eventually, using a semigroup factorisation method, we show exponential nonlinear stability in the small connectivity regime.
In this paper we study a system of stochastic differential equations with dissipative nonlinearity which arise in certain neurobiology models. Besides proving existence, uniqueness and continuous dependence on the initial datum, we shall be mainly concerned with the asymptotic behaviour of the solution. We prove the existence of an invariant ergodic measure $ν$ associated with the transition semigroup $P_t$; further, we identify its infinitesimal generator in the space $L^2(H;ν)$.
We consider a system of nonlinear partial differential equations with stochastic dynamical boundary conditions that arises in models of neurophysiology for the diffusion of electrical potentials through a finite network of neurons. Motivated by the discussion in the biological literature, we impose a general diffusion equation on each edge through a generalized version of the FitzHugh-Nagumo model, while the noise acting on the boundary is described by a generalized stochastic Kirchhoff law on the nodes. In the abstract framework of matrix operators theory, we rewrite this stochastic boundary …
We consider the long-time behavior of a population of mean-field oscillators modeling the activity of interacting excitable neurons in large population. Each neuron is represented by its voltage and recovery variables, which are solution to a FitzHugh-Nagumo system, and interacts with the rest of the population through a mean-field linear coupling, in the presence of noise. The aim of the paper is to study the emergence of collective oscillatory behaviors induced by noise and interaction on such a system. The main difficulty of the present analysis is that we consider the kinetic case, where i…
We investigate the dynamics of a limit of interacting FitzHugh-Nagumo neurons in the regime of large interaction coefficients. We consider the dynamics described by a mean-field model given by a nonlinear evolution partial differential equation representing the probability distribution of one given neuron in a large network. The case of weak connectivity previously studied displays a unique, exponentially stable, stationary solution. Here, we consider the case of strong connectivities, and exhibit the presence of possibly non-unique stationary behaviors or non-stationary behaviors. To this end…
We study invasion fronts in the FitzHugh--Nagumo equation in the oscillatory regime using singular perturbation techniques. Phenomenologically, localized perturbations of the unstable steady-state grow and spread, creating temporal oscillations whose phase is modulated spatially. The phase modulation appears to be selected by an invasion front that describes the behavior in the leading edge of the spreading process. We construct these invasion fronts for large regions of parameter space using singular perturbation techniques. Key ingredients are the construction of periodic orbits, their unsta…
We investigate the stability of traveling-pulse solutions to the stochastic FitzHughNagumo equations with additive noise. Special attention is given to the effect of small noise on the classical deterministically stable fast traveling pulse. Our method is based on adapting the velocity of the traveling wave by solving a scalar stochastic ordinary differential equation (SODE) and tracking perturbations to the wave meeting a system of a scalar stochastic partial differential equation (SPDE) coupled to a scalar ordinary differential equation (ODE). This approach has been recently employed by Krüg…
This paper studies the solutions of a reaction--diffusion system with nonlinearities that generalise the Lengyel--Epstein and FitzHugh--Nagumo nonlinearities. Sufficient conditions are derived for the global asymptotic stability of the system's solutions and confirmed through numerical Examples.
