Abstract.
In this paper, we restrict our attention to traveling wave solutions of a reaction-diffusion equation. Firstly we apply the Divisor Theorem for two variables in the complex domain, which is based on the ring theory of commutative algebra, to find a quasi-polynomial first integral of an explicit form to an equivalent autonomous system. Then through this first integral, we reduce the reaction-diffusion equation to a first-order integrable ordinary differential equation, and a class of traveling wave solutions is obtained accordingly. Comparisons with the existing results in the literature are also provided, which indicates that some analytical results in the literature contain errors. We clarify the errors and instead give a refined result in a simple and straightforward manner.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Feng, Z., Zheng, S. & Gao, D.Y. Traveling wave solutions to a reaction-diffusion equation. Z. Angew. Math. Phys. 60, 756–773 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00033-008-8092-0
Received:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00033-008-8092-0
Mathematics Subject Classification (2000).
- 02.30.Jr
- 84.40.Fe
- 04.20.Jb
Keywords.
- Traveling waves
- first integral
- Fisher equation
- Divisor theorem
- autonomous system
- elliptic function