Exponential number of stationary solutions for Nagumo equations on graphs

We study the Nagumo reaction diffusion equation on graphs and its dependence on the underlying graph structure and reaction diffusion parameters. We provide necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence and nonexistence of spatially heterogeneous stationary solutions. Furthermore, we observe that for sufficiently strong reactions (or sufficiently weak diffusion) there are 3(n) stationary solutions out of which 2(n) are asymptotically stable. Our analysis reveals interesting relationship between the analytic properties (diffusion and reaction parameters) and various graph characteristics (degree distribution, graph diameter, eigenvalues). We illustrate our results by a detailed analysis of the Nagumo equation on a simple graph and conclude with a list of open questions. (C) 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.