Attractors in confined source problems for coupled nonlinear diffusion

Abstract

In processes driven by nonlinear diffusion, a signal from a concentrated source is confined in a finite region. Such solutions can be sought in the form of power series in a spatial coordinate. We use this approach in problems involving coupled agents. To test the method, we consider a single equation with (a) linear and (b) quadratic diffusivity in order to recover the known results. The original set of PDEs is converted into a dynamical system with respect to the time-dependent series coefficients. As an application we consider an expansion of a free turbulent jet. Some example trajectories from the respective dynamical system are presented. The structure of the system hints at the existence of an attracting center manifold. The attractor is explicitly found for a reduced version of the system.