Boundary layers and vanishing diffusivity in run-and-tumble models

Abstract

A notable feature of confined active matter systems is the tendency for motile particles to accumulate near solid boundaries. In various linear models with no-flux boundary conditions, this accumulation is realized through the development of sharp boundary layers at small particle diffusivity $κ$. In this paper, we present the first rigorous investigation of nonlinear boundary layers in the context of confined active matter. Specifically, we consider a family of 1D run-and-tumble models with nonlinear advection and tumbling on the half-line $\mathbb{R}_+$. We rigorously prove the vanishing diffusivity limit with quantitative convergence rates. In the limiting system, the boundary mass enters as a new variable which solves a nonlinear ODE, coupled to the PDE through a dynamic boundary condition. Interestingly, the nonlinearity on the boundary at $κ= 0$ cannot be obtained without reference to the boundary layer analysis at $κ\ll 1$. Numerically, these models exhibit rich behavior, including phase transition and hysteresis in the boundary layer.