In the one-dimensional solidification of a binary alloy undergoing shrinkage, there is a relative motion between solid and liquid phases in the mushy zone, leading to the possibility of macrosegregation; thus, the problem constitutes an invaluable benchmark for the testing of numerical codes that model these phenomena. Here, we revisit an earlier obtained solution for this problem, that was posed on a semi-infinite spatial domain and valid for the case of low superheat, with a view to extending it to the more general situation of a finite spatial domain, arbitrarily large superheat and both eutectic and non-eutectic solidification. We find that a similarity solution is available for short times which contains a boundary layer on the liquid side of the mush–liquid interface; this solution is believed to constitute the correct initial condition for the subsequent numerical solution of the full non-similar problem, which is deferred to future work.

As a result of field fringing, the capacitance of a parallel-plate capacitor differs from that predicted by the textbook formula. Using singular perturbations and conformal mapping techniques, we calculate the leading-order correction to the capacitance in the limit of large aspect ratio. We additionally obtain a comparable approximation for the electrostatic attraction between the plates.

We study the extended Stefan problem which includes constitutional supercooling for the solidification of a binary alloy in a finite spherical domain. We perform an asymptotic analysis in the limits of large Lewis number and small Stefan number which allows us to identify a number of spatio-temporal regimes signifying distinct behaviours in the solidification process, resulting in an intricate boundary layer structure. Our results generalise those present in the literature by considering all time regimes for the Stefan problem while also accounting for impurities and constitutional supercooling. These results also generalise recent work on the extended Stefan problem for finite planar domains to spherical domains, and we shall highlight key differences in the asymptotic solutions and the underlying boundary layer structure which result from this change in geometry. We compare our asymptotic solutions with both numerical simulations and real experimental data arising from the casting of molten metallurgical grade silicon through the water granulation process, with our analysis highlighting the role played by supercooling in the solidification of binary alloys appearing in such applications.

Q-conditional (non-classical) symmetries of the known three-component reaction-diffusion (RD) system [K. Aoki et al. Theor. Popul. Biol. 50, 1–17 (1996)] modelling interaction between farmers and hunter-gatherers are constructed for the first time. A wide variety of Q-conditional symmetries are found, and it is shown that these symmetries are not equivalent to the Lie symmetries. Some operators of Q-conditional (non-classical) symmetry are applied for finding exact solutions of the RD system in question. Properties of the exact solutions (in particular, their asymptotic behaviour) are identified and possible biological interpretation is discussed.

In a planar smoothly bounded domain $\Omega$, we consider the model for oncolytic virotherapy given by

$$\left\{ \begin{array}{l} u_t = \Delta u - \nabla \cdot (u\nabla v) - uz, \\[1mm] v_t = - (u+w)v, \\[1mm] w_t = d_w \Delta w - w + uz, \\[1mm] z_t = d_z \Delta z - z - uz + \beta w, \end{array} \right.$$

$ D_w $

$ D_z $

$\beta$

$\beta \lt 1$

$M \gt 0$

$\beta \gt 0$

$$u\ge M \qquad \mbox{in } \Omega\times (0,\infty).$$

$\beta \gt 1$

$$\liminf_{t\to\infty} \inf_{x\in\Omega} u(x,t)\le \frac{1}{\beta-1}.$$

$\beta$

$\beta = 1$

In 1958 started the study of the families of algebraic limit cycles in the class of planar quadratic polynomial differential systems. In the present we known one family of algebraic limit cycles of degree 2 and four families of algebraic limit cycles of degree 4, and that there are no limit cycles of degree 3. All the families of algebraic limit cycles of degree 2 and 4 are known, this is not the case for the families of degree higher than 4. We also know that there exist two families of algebraic limit cycles of degree 5 and one family of degree 6, but we do not know if these families are all the families of degree 5 and 6. Until today it is an open problem to know if there are algebraic limit cycles of degree higher than 6 inside the class of quadratic polynomial differential systems. Here we investigate the birth and death of all the known families of algebraic limit cycles of quadratic polynomial differential systems.

The work in this paper concerns the study of different approximations for one-dimensional one-phase Stefan-like problems with a space-dependent latent heat. It is considered two different problems, which differ from each other in their boundary condition imposed at the fixed face: Dirichlet and Robin conditions. The approximate solutions are obtained by applying the heat balance integral method (HBIM), the modified HBIM and the refined integral method (RIM). Taking advantage of the exact analytical solutions, we compare and test the accuracy of the approximate solutions. The analysis is carried out using the dimensionless generalised Stefan number (Ste) and Biot number (Bi). It is also studied the case when Bi goes to infinity in the problem with a convective condition, recovering the approximate solutions when a temperature condition is imposed at the fixed face. Some numerical simulations are provided in order to assert which of the approximate integral methods turns out to be optimal. Moreover, we pose an approximate technique based on minimising the least-squares error, obtaining also approximate solutions for the classical Stefan problem.

We investigate the Fano resonance in grating structures using coupled resonators. The grating consists of a perfectly conducting slab with periodically arranged subwavelength slit holes, where inside each period, a pair of slits sit very close to each other. The slit holes act as resonators and are strongly coupled. It is shown rigorously that there exist two groups of resonances corresponding to poles of the scattering problem. One sequence of resonances has imaginary part in the order of ε, where ε is the size of the slit aperture, while the other sequence has imaginary part in the order of ε2. When coupled with the incident wave at resonant frequencies, the narrow-band resonant scattering induced by the latter will interfere with the broader background resonant radiation induced by the former. The interference of these two resonances generates the Fano-type transmission anomaly, which persists in the whole radiation continuum of the grating structure as long as the slit aperture size is small compared to the incident wavelength.