Abstract : The aggregation-diffusion equation is a nonlocal PDE that arises in the collective motion of cells. Mathematically, it is driven by two competing effects: local repulsion modelled by nonlinear diffusion, and long-range attraction modelled by nonlocal interaction. In this course, I will discuss several qualitative properties of its steady states and dynamical solutions. Using continuous Steiner symmetrization techniques, we show that all steady states are radially symmetric up to a translation. (joint with Carrillo, Hittmeir and Volzone). Once the symmetry is known, we further investigate whether steady states are unique within the radial class, and show that for a given mass, the uniqueness/non-uniqueness of steady states is determined by the power of the degenerate diffusion, with the critical power being m = 2. (joint with Delgadino and Yan). I'll also discuss some properties on the long-time behavior of aggregation-diffusion equation with linear diffusion (joint with Carrillo, Gomez-Castro and Zeng), and global-wellposedness if Keller-Segel equation when coupled with an active advection term (joint with Hu and Kiselev).

Keywords : Aggregation-diffusion equation; radial symmetry; continuous Steiner symmetrization