Generalized Principal Eigenvalues of Spatially Periodic Nonlocal Operators with Applications to Noncooperative KPP Systems

Abstract

In this paper, we study generalized principal eigenvalues of the spatially periodic cooperative nonlocal operator $\mathcal{L}\boldsymbolφ=\mathcal{J}*\boldsymbolφ -\boldsymbolφ+A(x)\boldsymbolφ$ and their applications to noncooperative KPP systems. In the periodic setting, we characterize the existence of a classical principal eigenvalue and explicitly construct and classify Radon measure solutions to the associated eigenproblem when a positive continuous principal eigenfunction does not exist. On the whole space, we consider two notions of generalized principal eigenvalues defined through positive test functions and characterize them through a family of weighted periodic spectral values and Dirichlet approximations. For large spatial periods, we identify the spectral limits through a scalar Hamilton--Jacobi cell problem and, under additional assumptions, derive leading-order corrections and eigenfunction concentration results. For small spatial periods, we characterize the limits by an averaged operator and obtain refined expansions for specific classes of kernels, including formulas for the difference between the two whole-space generalized principal eigenvalues. Finally, we apply the spectral theory to establish extinction and persistence criteria for the associated noncooperative KPP systems, characterize spreading speeds along rays by a Freidlin--Gärtner-type formula, and study their asymptotic behavior as the spatial period tends to infinity or zero.