Casimir Emako

Casimir Emako, Charlène Gayrard, Axel Buguin et al.

Mathematical models have been widely used to describe the collective movement of bacteria by chemotaxis. In particular, bacterial concentration waves traveling in a narrow channel have been experimentally observed and can be precisely described thanks to a mathematical model at the macroscopic scale. Such model was derived in [1] using a kinetic model based on an accurate description of the mesoscopic run-and-tumble process. We extend this approach to study the behavior of the interaction between two populations of E. Coli. Separately, each population travels with its own speed in the channel. When put together, a synchronization of the speed of the traveling pulses can be observed. We show that this synchronization depends on the fraction of the fast population. Our approach is based on mathematical analysis of a macroscopic model of partial differential equations. Numerical simulations in comparison with experimental observations show qualitative agreement.

Casimir Emako, Min Tang

In this paper, we propose a general framework for designing numerical schemes that have both well-balanced (WB) and asymptotic preserving (AP) properties, for various kinds of kinetic models. We are interested in two different parameter regimes, 1) When the ratio between the mean free path and the characteristic macroscopic length $ε$ tends to zero, the density can be described by (advection) diffusion type (linear or nonlinear) macroscopic models; 2) When $ε$ = O(1), the models behave like hyperbolic equations with source terms and we are interested in their steady states. We apply the framework to three different kinetic models: neutron transport equation and its diffusion limit, the transport equation for chemotaxis and its Keller-Segel limit, and grey radiative transfer equation and its nonlinear diffusion limit. Numerical examples are given to demonstrate the properties of the schemes.