Logarithmic scaling of the collapse in the critical Keller-Segel equation

TL;DR

This paper investigates the critical collapse behavior in the two-dimensional reduced Keller-Segel equation, revealing a logarithmic correction to the scaling law near blow-up and validating it through asymptotic analysis and numerical simulations.

Contribution

It introduces an asymptotic perturbation theory to describe the logarithmic modifications in the collapse scaling law of the RKSE, aligning theory with numerical results.

Findings

Collapse exhibits a $(t_c - t)^{1/2}$ scaling with logarithmic correction.

Perturbation theory accurately predicts the collapse dynamics.

Numerical simulations confirm the theoretical scaling law.

Abstract

A reduced Keller-Segel equation (RKSE) is a parabolic-elliptic system of partial differential equations which describes bacterial aggregation and the collapse of a self-gravitating gas of brownian particles. We consider RKSE in two dimensions, where solution has a critical collapse (blow-up) if the total number of bacteria exceeds a critical value. We study the self-similar solutions of RKSE near the blow-up point. Near the collapse time, $t=t_c$, the critical collapse is characterized by the $L\propto (t_c-t)^{1/2}$ scaling law with logarithmic modification, where $L$ is the spatial width of collapsing solution. We develop an asymptotic perturbation theory for these modifications and show that the resulting scaling agrees well with numerical simulations. The quantitative comparison of the theory and simulations requires to take into account several terms of the perturbation series.