A shape theorem for BBM in a periodic environment
arXiv:2507.10515
The paper proves that binary branching Brownian motion with a spatially periodic branching rate, when rescaled by time, converges almost surely to a deterministic convex shape, and it determines the asymptotic propagation speeds using probabilistic methods and connections to Fisher‑KPP traveling fronts.
Abstract
We consider the long-time behaviour of binary branching Brownian motion (BBM) where the branching rate depends on a periodic spatial heterogeneity. We prove that almost surely as , the heterogeneous BBM at time , normalized by , approaches a deterministic convex shape with respect to Hausdorff distance. Our approach relies on establishing tail bounds on the probability of existence of BBM particles lying in half-spaces, which in particular yields the asymptotic speed of propagation of projections of the BBM in every direction. Our arguments are primarily probabilistic in nature, but additionally exploit the existence of a "front speed" (or minimal speed of a pulsating traveling front solution) for the Fisher-KPP reaction-diffusion equation naturally associated to the BBM.
47 pages