Propagation phenomena with nonlocal diffusion in presence of an obstacle

Abstract: We consider a nonlocal semi-linear parabolic equation on a connected exterior domain of the form $\mathbb{R}^N\setminus K$, where $K\subset\mathbb{R}^N$ is a compact "obstacle". The model we study is motivated by applications in biology and takes into account long range dispersal events that may be anisotropic depending on how a given population perceives the environment. To formulate this in a meaningful manner, we introduce a new theoretical framework which is of both mathematical and biological interest. The main goal of this paper is to construct an entire solution that behaves like a planar travelling wave as $t\to-\infty$ and to study how this solution propagates depending on the shape of the obstacle. We show that whether the solution recovers the shape of a planar front in the large time limit is equivalent to whether a certain Liouville type property is satisfied. We study the validity of this Liouville type property and we extend some previous results of Hamel, Valdinoci and the authors. Lastly, we show that the entire solution is a generalised transition front.