Can primitive chemotaxis generate spatial structures?

Prof. Dr. Michael Winkler, Universität Paderborn

The collective behavior in populations of single-cell species described by parabolic models is considered. A predominant emphasis will be on cases in which individuals are particularly primitive in the sense that beyond a partially oriented movement toward increasing concentrations of a nutrient, further activity can essentially be neglected. Recent developments in the analysis of such nutrient taxis systems are to be described, with a special focus set on mathematical challenges related to the fundamental question how far models of this type are capable of adequately reflecting aspects of colorful dynamics known from experimental observations.