Uniqueness of fast travelling fronts in reaction–diffusion equations with delay

Abstract

We consider positive travelling fronts, u ( t ,  x )= ϕ ( ν . x + ct ), ϕ (−∞)=0, ϕ (∞)= κ , of the equation u t ( t ,  x )=Δ u ( t ,  x )− u ( t ,  x )+ g ( u ( t − h ,  x )), x ∈ m . This equation is assumed to have exactly two non-negative equilibria: u 1 ≡0 and u 2 ≡ κ >0, but the birth function g ∈ C 2 ( ,  ) may be non-monotone on [0, κ ]. We are therefore interested in the so-called monostable case of the time-delayed reaction–diffusion equation. Our main result shows that for every fixed and sufficiently large velocity c , the positive travelling front ϕ ( ν . x + ct ) is unique (modulo translations). Note that ϕ may be non-monotone. To prove uniqueness, we introduce a small parameter ϵ =1/ c and realize a Lyapunov–Schmidt reduction in a scale of Banach spaces.