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In this study, we explore a mathematical model for tissue growth focusing on the interplay between multiple cell subpopulations with distinct phenotypic characteristics. The model addresses the dynamics of tissue growth influenced by phenotype-dependent growth rates and collective population pressure, governed by Brinkman's law. We examine two primary objectives: the joint limit where viscosity tends to zero while the number of species approaches infinity, yielding an inviscid Darcy-type model with a continuous phenotype variable, and the continuous phenotype limit where the number of species becomes infinite with a fixed viscosity, resulting in a novel viscoelastic tissue growth model. In this sense, this paper provides a comprehensive framework that elucidates the relationships between four different modelling paradigms in tissue growth.

We study the existence of weak solutions for a model of cell invasion into the extracellular matrix (ECM), which consists of a non-linear partial differential equation for the density of cells, coupled with an ordinary differential equation (ODE) describing the ECM density. The model contains cross-species density-dependent diffusion and proliferation terms that capture the role of the ECM in providing structural support for the cells during invasion while also preventing growth via volume-filling effects. Furthermore, the model includes ECM degradation by the cells. We present an existence result for weak solutions which is based on carefully exploiting the partial gradient flow structure of the problem which allows us to overcome the non-regularising nature of the ODE involved. In addition, we present simulations based on a finite difference scheme that illustrate that the system exhibits travelling wave solutions, and we investigate numerically the asymptotic behaviour as the ECM degradation rate tends to infinity.

We present regularity results for nonlinear drift-diffusion equations of porous medium type (together with their incompressible limit). We relax the assumptions imposed on the drift term with respect to previous results and additionally study the effect of linear diffusion on our regularity result (a scenario of particular interest in the incompressible case, for it represents the motion of particles driven by a Brownian motion subject to a density constraint). Specifically, this work concerns the $L^4$-summability of the pressure gradient in porous medium flows with drifts that is stable with respect to the exponent of the nonlinearity, and $L^2$-estimates on the pressure Hessian (in particular, in the incompressible case with linear diffusion we prove that the pressure is the positive part of an $H^2$-function).

We propose a deterministic particle method for a one-dimensional nonlocal equation with interactions through the repulsive Morse potential. We show that the particle method converges as the number of particles goes to infinity towards weak measure solutions to the nonlocal equation. Such a results is proven under the assumption of initial data in the space of probability measures with finite second moment. In particular, our method is able to capture a measure-to-$L^\infty$ smoothing effect of the limit equation. Moreover, as the Morse potential is rescaled to approach a Dirac delta, corresponding to strongly localised repulsive interactions, the scheme becomes a particle approximation for the quadratic porous medium equation. We show that in the joint limit (localised repulsion and increasing number of particles) the reconstructed density converges to a weak solution of the porous medium equation. The strategy relies on various estimates performed at the particle level, including $L^p$ estimates and an entropy dissipation estimate, which benefit from the particular structure of our particle scheme and from the absolutely continuous reconstruction of the density from the particle locations.

We propose an upwind finite volume method for a system of two kinetic equations in one dimension that are coupled through nonlocal interaction terms. These cross-interaction systems were recently obtained as the mean-field limit of a second-order system of ordinary differential equations for two interacting species. Models of this kind are encountered in a myriad of contexts, for instance, to describe large systems of indistinguishable agents such as cell colonies, flocks of birds, schools of fish, herds of sheep. The finite volume method we propose is constructed to conserve mass and preserve positivity. Moreover, convex functionals of the discrete solution are controlled, which we use to show the convergence of the scheme. Finally, we investigate the scheme numerically.

Self-organisation of individuals within large collectives occurs throughout biology. Mathematical models can help elucidate the individual-level mechanisms behind these dynamics, but analytical tractability often comes at the cost of biological intuition. Discrete models provide straightforward interpretations by tracking each individual yet can be computationally expensive. Alternatively, continuous models supply a large-scale perspective by representing the "effective" dynamics of infinite agents, but their results are often difficult to translate into experimentally relevant insights. We address this challenge by quantitatively linking spatio-temporal dynamics of continuous models and individual-based data in settings with biologically realistic, time-varying cell numbers. Specifically, we introduce and fit scaling parameters in continuous models to account for discrepancies that can arise from low cell numbers and localised interactions. We illustrate our approach on an example motivated by zebrafish-skin pattern formation, in which we create a continuous framework describing the movement and proliferation of a single cell population by upscaling rules from a discrete model. Our resulting continuous models accurately depict ensemble average agent-based solutions when migration or proliferation act alone. Interestingly, the same parameters are not optimal when both processes act simultaneously, highlighting a rich difference in how combining migration and proliferation affects discrete and continuous dynamics., Comment: 25 pages, 11 figures in main manuscript. 24 pages, 14 figures in supplementary information

In recent years, there has been a spike in the interest in multi-phase tissue growth models. Depending on the type of tissue, the velocity is linked to the pressure through Stoke's law, Brinkman's law or Darcy's law. While each of these velocity-pressure relations has been studied in the literature, little emphasis has been placed on the fine relationship between them. In this paper, we want to address this dearth in the literature, providing a rigorous argument that bridges the gap between a viscoelastic tumour model (of Brinkman type) and an inviscid tumour model (of Darcy type).

We study the role of anisotropic steric interactions in a system of hard Brownian needles. Despite having no volume, non-overlapping needles exclude a volume in configuration space that influences the macroscopic evolution of the system. Starting from the stochastic particle system, we use the method of matched asymptotic expansions and conformal mapping to systematically derive a nonlinear nonlocal partial differential equation for the evolution of the population density in position and orientation. We consider the regime of high rotational diffusion, resulting in an equation for the spatial density that allows us to compare the effective excluded volume of a hard-needles system with that of a hard-spheres system. We further consider spatially homogeneous solutions and find an isotropic to nematic transition as density increases, consistent with Onsager's theory.

We explore the dynamical behavior and energetic properties of a model of two species that interact nonlocally on finite graphs. The authors recently introduced the model in the context of nonquadratic Finslerian gradient flows on generalized graphs featuring nonlinear mobilities. In a continuous and local setting, this class of systems exhibits a wide variety of patterns, including mixing of the two species, partial engulfment, or phase separation. This work showcases how this rich behavior carries over to the graph structure. We present analytical and numerical evidence thereof., Comment: arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:2107.11289

The aggregation equation arises naturally in kinetic theory in the study of granular media, and its interpretation as a 2-Wasserstein gradient flow for the nonlocal interaction energy is well-known. Starting from the spatially homogeneous inelastic Boltzmann equation, a formal Taylor expansion reveals a link between this equation and the aggregation equation with an appropriately chosen interaction potential. Inspired by this formal link and the fact that the associated aggregation equation also dissipates the kinetic energy, we present a novel way of interpreting the aggregation equation as a gradient flow, in the sense of curves of maximal slope, of the kinetic energy, rather than the usual interaction energy, with respect to an appropriately constructed transportation metric on the space of probability measures., Comment: 37 pages. Restructured version. Comments welcome

We study the evolution of a system of two species with nonlinear mobility and nonlocal interactions on a graph whose vertices are given by an arbitrary, positive measure. To this end, we extend a recently introduced $2$-Wasserstein-type quasi-metric on generalized graphs, which is based on an upwind-interpolation, to the case of two-species systems, concave, nonlinear mobilities, and $p\ne 2$. We provide a rigorous interpretation of the interaction system as a gradient flow in the Finslerian setting, arising from the new quasi-metric.

In this work we study a tissue growth model with applications to tumour growth. The model is based on that of Perthame, Quir\'os, and V\'azquez proposed in 2014 but incorporates the advective effects caused, for instance, by the presence of nutrients, oxygen, or, possibly, as a result of self-propulsion. The main result of this work is the incompressible limit of this model which builds a bridge between the density-based model and a geometry free-boundary problem by passing to a singular limit in the pressure law. The limiting objects are then proven to be unique.

We consider a discrete particle system of two species coupled through nonlocal interactions driven by the one-dimensional Newtonian potential, with repulsive self-interaction and attractive cross-interaction. After providing a suitable existence theory in a finite-dimensional framework, we explore the behaviour of the particle system in case of collisions and analyse the behaviour of the solutions with initial data featuring particle clusters. Subsequently, we prove that the empirical measure associated to the particle system converges to the unique 2-Wasserstein gradient flow solution of a system of two partial differential equations (PDEs) with nonlocal interaction terms in a proper measure sense. The latter result uses uniform estimates of the $L^m$-norms of a piecewise constant reconstruction of the density using the particle trajectories.

In a celebrated three-pages long paper in 1979, Aronson and B\'enilan obtained a remarkable estimate on second order derivatives for the solution of the porous media equation. Since its publication, the theory of porous medium flow has expanded relentlessly with applications including thermodynamics, gas flow, ground water flow as well as ecological population dynamics. The purpose of this paper is to clarify the use of recent extensions of the Aronson and B\'enilan estimate in Lp spaces, of some modifications and improvements, as well as to show certain limitations of their strategy.

We examine crime patterns in Santa Monica, California before and after passage of Proposition 47, a 2014 initiative that reclassified some non-violent felonies to misdemeanors. We also study how the 2016 opening of four new light rail stations, and how more community-based policing starting in late 2018, impacted crime. A series of statistical analyses are performed on reclassified (larceny, fraud, possession of narcotics, forgery, receiving/possessing stolen property) and non-reclassified crimes by probing publicly available databases from 2006 to 2019. We compare data before and after passage of Proposition 47, city-wide and within eight neighborhoods. Similar analyses are conducted within a 450 meter radius of the new transit stations. Reports of monthly reclassified crimes increased city-wide by approximately 15% after enactment of Proposition 47, with a significant drop observed in late 2018. Downtown exhibited the largest overall surge. The reported incidence of larceny intensified throughout the city. Two new train stations, including Downtown, reported significant crime increases in their vicinity after service began. While the number of reported reclassified crimes increased after passage of Proposition 47, those not affected by the new law decreased or stayed constant, suggesting that Proposition 47 strongly impacted crime in Santa Monica. Reported crimes decreased in late 2018 concurrent with the adoption of new policing measures that enhanced outreach and patrolling. These findings may be relevant to law enforcement and policy-makers. Follow-up studies needed to confirm long-term trends may be affected by the COVID-19 pandemic that drastically changed societal conditions., Comment: 41 pages, 19 figures

We study an implicit finite-volume scheme for non-linear, non-local aggregation-diffusion equations which exhibit a gradient-flow structure, recently introduced by Bailo, Carrillo, and Hu (2020). Crucially, this scheme keeps the dissipation property of an associated fully discrete energy, and does so unconditionally with respect to the time step. Our main contribution in this work is to show the convergence of the method under suitable assumptions on the diffusion functions and potentials involved.

We present a two-species model with applications in tumour modelling. The main novelty is the coupling of both species through the so-called Brinkman law which is typically used in the context of visco-elastic media, where the velocity field is linked to the total population pressure via an elliptic equation. The same model for only one species has been studied by Perthame and Vauchelet in the past. The first part of this paper is dedicated to establishing existence of solutions to the problem, while the second part deals with the incompressible limit as the stiffness of the pressure law tends to infinity. Here we present a novel approach in one spatial dimension that differs from the kinetic reformulation used in the aforementioned study and, instead, relies on uniform BV-estimates.

This paper presents new analytical results for a class of nonlinear parabolic systems of partial different equations with small cross-diffusion which describe the macroscopic dynamics of a variety of large systems of interacting particles. Under suitable assumptions, we prove existence of classical solutions and we show exponential convergence in time to the stationary state. Furthermore, we consider the special case of one mobile and one immobile species, for which the system reduces to a nonlinear equation of Fokker-Planck type. In this framework, we improve the convergence result obtained for the general system and we derive sharper $L^{\infty}$-bounds for the solutions in two spatial dimensions. We conclude by illustrating the behaviour of solutions with numerical experiments in one and two spatial dimensions.

In this paper we analyse a class of nonlinear cross-diffusion systems for two species with local repulsive interactions that exhibit a formal gradient flow structure with respect to the Wasserstein metric. We show that systems where the population pressure is given by a function of the total population are critical with respect to cross-diffusion perturbations. This criticality is showcased by proving that adding an extra cross-diffusion term that breaks the symmetry of the population pressure in the system leads to completely different behaviours, namely segregation or mixing, depending on the sign of the perturbation. We show these results at the level of the minimisers of the associated free energy functionals. We also analyse certain implications of these results for the gradient flow systems of PDEs associated to these functionals and we present a numerical exploration of the time evolution of these phenomena.

Multiphase mechanical models are now commonly used to describe living tissues including tumour growth. The specific model we study here consists of two equations of mixed parabolic and hyperbolic type which extend the standard compressible porous medium equation, including cross-reaction terms. We study the incompressible limit, when the pressure becomes stiff, which generates a free boundary problem. We establish the complementarity relation and also a segregation result. Several major mathematical difficulties arise in the two species case. Firstly, the system structure makes comparison principles fail. Secondly, segregation and internal layers limit the regularity available on some quantities to BV. Thirdly, the Aronson-B{\'e}nilan estimates cannot be established in our context. We are lead, as it is classical, to add correction terms. This procedure requires technical manipulations based on BV estimates only valid in one space dimension. Another novelty is to establish an L1 version in place of the standard upper bound.

We prove global-in-time existence and uniqueness of measure solutions of a nonlocal interaction system of two species in one spatial dimension. For initial data including atomic parts we provide a notion of gradient-flow solutions in terms of the pseudo-inverses of the corresponding cumulative distribution functions, for which the system can be stated as a gradient flow on the Hilbert space $L^2(0,1)^2$ according to the classical theory by Br\'ezis. For absolutely continuous initial data we construct solutions using a minimising movement scheme in the set of probability measures. In addition we show that the scheme preserves finiteness of the $L^m$-norms for all $m\in [1,+\infty]$ and of the second moments. We then provide a characterisation of equilibria and prove that they are achieved (up to time subsequences) in the large time asymptotics. We conclude the paper constructing two examples of non-uniqueness of measure solutions emanating from the same (atomic) initial datum, showing that the notion of gradient flow solution is necessary to single out a unique measure solution.

In this work we present the convergence of a positivity preserving semi-discrete finite volume scheme for a coupled system of two non-local partial differential equations with cross-diffusion. The key to proving the convergence result is to establish positivity in order to obtain a discrete energy estimate to obtain compactness. We numerically observe the convergence to reference solutions with a first order accuracy in space. Moreover we recover segregated stationary states in spite of the regularising effect of the self-diffusion. However, if the self-diffusion or the cross-diffusion is strong enough, mixing occurs while both densities remain continuous.