Reconstructing a point source from diffusion fluxes to narrow windows in three dimensions

We develop a computational approach to locate the source of a steady-state gradient of diffusing particles from the fluxes through narrow windows distributed either on the boundary of a three-dimensional half-space or on a sphere. This approach is based on solving the mixed boundary stationary diffusion equation with Neumann–Green’s function. The method of matched asymptotic expansions enables the computation of the probability fluxes. To explore the range of validity of this expansion, we develop a fast analytical-Brownian numerical scheme. This scheme accelerates the simulation time by avoiding the explicit computation of Brownian trajectories in the infinite domain. The results obtained from our derived analytical formulae and the fast numerical simulation scheme agree on a large range of parameters. Using the analytical representation of the particle fluxes, we show how to reconstruct the location of the point source. Furthermore, we investigate the uncertainty in the source reconstruction due to additive fluctuations present in the fluxes. We also study the influence of various window configurations: clustered versus uniform distributions on recovering the source position. Finally, we discuss possible applications for cell navigation in biology.

“CHAPTER 5” DIFFUSION THEORY

In many nuclear reactor physics texts (excluding Elmer Lewis’s recent text however), “Chapter 5” is dedicated to diffusion theory; hence, the title of this submission. Here, we will investigate analytical solutions to the most basic form of the monoenergetic 1D stationary diffusion equation. The intuitive approach taken radically departs from the usual method of solving the diffusion equation. In particular, we consider a general setting such that the method accommodates all solutions to the monoenergetic diffusion equations in 1D plane and curvilinear geometries. This is not your father’s diffusion theory and, for this reason, we anticipate it will eventually become the classroom standard.

TO THE SOLUTION OF ISSUES OF NONSTATIONARY DIFFUSION IN LAYERED ENVIRONMENTS

The issues of nonstationary diffusion in layered structures are considered. When designing the devices for implementing mass transfer processes, it is necessary to take into account the properties of the substance and the nature of the processes. Design time reduces significantly and the efficiency of the devices is higher if a good physical model is built and a mathematical analysis with kinetics of the processes is applied. The difficulties of theoretical analysis and calculation of mass transfer are determined by the complexity of the transfer mechanism to and from the phase boundary. Therefore, simplified models of mass transfer processes are used in which the mass transfer mechanism is characterized by a combination of molecular and convective mass transfer. Many important practical problems involve the calculation of nonstationary diffusion (Fick's second law of diffusion) for a certain volume of substance (substances). For qualitative evaluation of processes, in the case of symmetry, volumetric issues can be considered as one-dimensional tasks, i.e. dependent on one coordinate. The general solution of the non-stationary diffusion equation for layered environments is proposed. The case of non-stationary boundary conditions of the third kind on the external surface and boundary conditions of the fourth kind conjugation for contiguous layers has been considered. The solution is obtained by separating the Fourier variables by the eigenfunctions of the problem using the Duhamel integral. The proposed solution is explicit and due to the recurrent form of the basic relations can be useful in numerical calculations