Separation dichotomy and wavefronts for a nonlinear convolution equation

Abstract

This paper is concerned with a scalar nonlinear convolution equation which appears naturally in the theory of traveling waves for monostable evolution models. First, we prove that each bounded positive solution of the convolution equation should either be asymptotically separated from zero or it should converge (exponentially) to zero. This dichotomy principle is then used to establish a general theorem guaranteeing the uniform persistence and existence of semi-wavefront solutions to the convolution equation. Finally, we apply our abstract results to several well-studied classes of evolution equations with asymmetric non-local and non-monotone response. We show that, contrary to the symmetric case, these equations can possess at the same time the stationary, the expansion and the extinction waves.