Cookies on this website

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you click 'Accept all cookies' we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies and you won't see this message again. If you click 'Reject all non-essential cookies' only necessary cookies providing core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility will be enabled. Click 'Find out more' for information on how to change your cookie settings.

© 2020 Elsevier Ltd We consider a free boundary model of epithelial cell migration with logistic growth and nonlinear diffusion induced by mechanical interactions. Using numerical simulations, phase plane and perturbation analysis, we find and analyse travelling wave solutions with negative, zero, and positive wavespeeds. Unlike classical travelling wave solutions of reaction–diffusion equations, the travelling wave solutions that we explore have a well-defined front and are not associated with a heteroclinic orbit in the phase plane. We find leading order expressions for both the wavespeed and the density at the free boundary. Interestingly, whether the travelling wave solution invades or retreats depends only on whether the carrying capacity density corresponds to cells being in compression or extension.

Original publication

DOI

10.1016/j.aml.2020.106636

Type

Journal article

Journal

Applied Mathematics Letters

Publication Date

01/01/2021

Volume

111