Refined estimates of the propagation speed in porous medium equation of combustion type

Abstract

We are concerned with the Cauchy problem $u_t=(u^m{)}_{xx}+f(u)$, where the nonliearity $f(u)$ is of combustion type and the initial data is compactly supported. In \cite{lou2024convergence}, among other things, the authors prove that by considering a multiple of a given initial data, there is a critical value such that the corresponding transition solution spreads at the asymptotic speed $2y_0\sqrt{t}[1+o(1)]\text{as}t\to \infty$, while the lower order term $o(1)$ remains unknown. In this paper, for a family of functions of combustion type, we refine the estimates of the asymptotic speed of the transition solution and provide a precise characterization of the lower order term $o(1)$. Our result also reveals that there is no unified characterization of the lower order term for general combustion type functions $f$.