Roberto Natalini

Philippe G. LeFloch, Roberto Natalini

We study the limiting behavior of the solutions to a class of conservation laws with vanishing nonlinear diffusion and dispersion terms. We prove the convergence to the entropy solution of the first order problem under a condition on the relative size of the diffusion and the dispersion terms. This work is motivated by the pseudo-viscosity approximation introduced by Von Neumann in the 50's.

Gabriella Bretti, Roberto Natalini, Magali Ribot

In this paper we deal with a semilinear hyperbolic chemotaxis model in one space dimension evolving on a network, with suitable transmission conditions at nodes. This framework is motivated by tissue-engineering scaffolds used for improving wound healing. We introduce a numerical scheme, which guarantees global mass densities conservation. Moreover our scheme is able to yield a correct approximation of the effects of the source term at equilibrium. Several numerical tests are presented to show the behavior of solutions and to discuss the stability and the accuracy of our approximation.

Fabrizio Clarelli, Barbara De Filippo, Roberto Natalini

A new partial differential model for monitoring and detecting copper corrosion products (mainly brochantite and cuprite) is proposed to provide predictive tools suitable for describing the evolution of damage induced on bronze specimens by sulfur dioxide (SO_2) pollution. This model is characterized by the movement of a double free boundary. Numerical simulations show a nice agreement with experimental result.

Roberto Natalini, Magali Ribot, Monika Twarogowska

We introduce a numerical scheme to approximate a quasi-linear hyperbolic system which models the movement of cells under the influence of chemotaxis. Since we expect to find solutions which contain vacuum parts, we propose an upwinding scheme which handles properly the presence of vacuum and, besides, which gives a good approximation of the time asymptotic states of the system. For this scheme we prove some basic analytical properties and study its stability near some of the steady states of the system. Finally, we present some numerical simulations which show the dependence of the asymptotic behavior of the solutions upon the parameters of the system.

Ezio Di Costanzo, Marta Menci, Eleonora Messina et al.

In this paper we propose and study a hybrid discrete in continuous mathematical model of collective motion under alignment and chemotaxis effect. Starting from the paper by Di Costanzo et al (2015a), in which the Cucker-Smale model (Cucker and Smale, 2007) was coupled with other cell mechanisms, to describe the cell migration and self-organization in the zebrafish lateral line primordium, we introduce a simplified model in which the coupling between an alignment and chemotaxis mechanism acts on a system of interacting particles. In particular we rely on a hybrid description in which the agents are discrete entities, while the chemoattractant is considered as a continuous signal. The proposed model is then studied both from an analytical and a numerical point of view. From the analytic point of view we prove, globally in time, existence and uniqueness of the solution. Then, the asymptotic behaviour of a linearised version of the system is investigated. Through a suitable Lyapunov functional we show that for $t\rightarrow +\infty$, the migrating aggregate exponentially converges to a state in which all the particles have a same position with zero velocity. Finally, we present a comparison between the analytical findings and some numerical results, concerning the behaviour of the full nonlinear system.

Denise Aregba-Driollet, Maya Briani, Roberto Natalini

We introduce a new class of finite differences schemes to approximate one dimensional dissipative semilinear hyperbolic systems with a BGK structure. Using precise analytical time-decay estimates of the local truncation error, it is possible to design schemes, based on the standard upwind approximation, which are increasingly accurate for large times when approximating small perturbations of constant asymptotic states. Numerical tests show their better performances with respect to those of other schemes.

Gabriella Bretti, Roberto Natalini

Many studies have shown that Physarum polycephalum slime mold is able to find the shortest path in a maze. In this paper we study this behavior in a network, using a hyperbolic model of chemotaxis. Suitable transmission and boundary conditions at each node are considered to mimic the behavior of such an organism in the feeding process. Several numerical tests are presented for special network geometries to show the qualitative agreement between our model and the observed behavior of the mold.