A fully nonlinear parabolic segregation problem

Abstract

We study a two-phase parabolic free boundary problem arising as the segregation limit of a competition-diffusion system with strong interactions and fully nonlinear diffusion. The positive and negative phases are governed by different equations and are coupled through global viscosity inequalities. We construct viscosity solutions that are Lipschitz in space and $1/2$-Hölder in time, and establish differentiability in space across the free boundary, including at singular points. At regular points, we prove that the solution has a parabolic $C^{1,\alpha }$ asymptotic expansion, and deduce that the free boundary is locally a $C^{1,\alpha }$ hypersurface. The proof relies on a parabolic Alt-Caffarelli-Friedman monotonicity formula to classify blow-up limits, followed by an improvement of flatness argument.

arXiv comment34 pages