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Main Authors: Sepúlveda, Sebastián Flores, Niethammer, Barbara, Velázquez, Juan J. L.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.03553
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author Sepúlveda, Sebastián Flores
Niethammer, Barbara
Velázquez, Juan J. L.
author_facet Sepúlveda, Sebastián Flores
Niethammer, Barbara
Velázquez, Juan J. L.
contents In this paper we study a mass-constrained free boundary problem modeling cell polarization, in the regime where the mass is small. In the generic case of a signal with nondegenerate maxima, we prove that the solution converges locally to a global, integrable solution to an obstacle problem in the plane. We further show that the interface of the solution to the limit problem is an ellipse, the equation of which is explicit. We also study some cases where the signal has degenerate maxima, highlighting a variety of possible behaviors.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2605_03553
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle On the shape of the positivity region for a free boundary problem describing cell polarization
Sepúlveda, Sebastián Flores
Niethammer, Barbara
Velázquez, Juan J. L.
Analysis of PDEs
In this paper we study a mass-constrained free boundary problem modeling cell polarization, in the regime where the mass is small. In the generic case of a signal with nondegenerate maxima, we prove that the solution converges locally to a global, integrable solution to an obstacle problem in the plane. We further show that the interface of the solution to the limit problem is an ellipse, the equation of which is explicit. We also study some cases where the signal has degenerate maxima, highlighting a variety of possible behaviors.
title On the shape of the positivity region for a free boundary problem describing cell polarization
topic Analysis of PDEs
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.03553