Pattern Bifurcation in a Nonlocal Erosion Equation

Abstract

This paper considers a periodic boundary value problem for a nonlinear partial differential equation with a deviating spatial variable. It is called the nonlocal erosion equation and was proposed as a model for the formation of dynamic patterns on the semiconductor surface. As is demonstrated below, the formation of a spatially inhomogeneous relief is a self-organization process. An inhomogeneous relief appears due to local bifurcations in the neighborhood of homogeneous equilibria when they change their stability. The analysis of this problem is based on modern methods of the theory of infinite-dimensional dynamic systems, including such branches as the theory of invariant manifolds, the apparatus of normal forms, and asymptotic methods for studying dynamic systems.