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Single integrodifferential wave equation for a Lévy walk

Sergei Fedotov
Phys. Rev. E 93, 020101(R) – Published 1 February 2016

Abstract

We derive the single integrodifferential wave equation for the probability density function of the position of a classical one-dimensional Lévy walk with continuous sample paths. This equation involves a classical wave operator together with memory integrals describing the spatiotemporal coupling of the Lévy walk. It is valid at all times, not only in the long time limit, and it does not involve any large-scale approximations. It generalizes the well-known telegraph or Cattaneo equation for the persistent random walk with the exponential switching time distribution. Several non-Markovian cases are considered when the particle's velocity alternates at the gamma and power-law distributed random times. In the strong anomalous case we obtain the asymptotic solution to the integrodifferential wave equation. We implement the nonlinear reaction term of Kolmogorov-Petrovsky-Piskounov type into our equation and develop the theory of wave propagation in reaction-transport systems involving Lévy diffusion.

  • Received 18 September 2015

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.93.020101

©2016 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Statistical Physics & Thermodynamics

Authors & Affiliations

Sergei Fedotov

  • School of Mathematics, The University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, United Kingdom

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Issue

Vol. 93, Iss. 2 — February 2016

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