Transaction on IoT and Cloud Computing 2(2) 14-22 2014

Note on a nonlinear reaction-diffusion process

Gunay Aslanova∗ , Elif Tekin Tarim
Mathematics Department, Yildiz Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey

Abstract
We revised an Adomian decomposition method proposed by Lesnic [1] applied for
solving a nonlinear reaction-diffusion equation. Applying the Adomian decomposi-
tion method in a standard form, the author has solved the problem when the power
n of the reaction term is small enough. But the Adomian decomposition method in
the proposed form in fact, is not applicable for larger values of n. We demonstrated
the correct way of solution, which is applicable for all values of n.
Key words: Reaction-diffusion process, Adomian decomposition method,
Boundary value problems

1. INTRODUCTION
In [1] Lesnic proposed a standard approach to apply the Adomian decomposition
method (ADM) for solving the reaction-diffusion problem. The main difficulty in
the application of ADM in proposed form is that the corresponding approximate
solution is a divergent or very slowly convergent series on [0, L] for n ≥ 2 (see[1]).
We consider a reaction-diffusion process governed by the equation

u00 + un = 0, 0 < x < L, (1)

with boundary conditions

u(0) = u(L) = 0, (2)

where u(x) represents the steady-state temperature for the corresponding reaction-
diffusion equation with the reaction term un , n is the power of the reaction term
(heat source), L is the length of the sample (heat conductor). For n = 3, the problem
(1)-(2) has a unique positive solution (as can be seen by phase-plane analysis, for
example) which is given in terms of elliptic functions. For an arbitrary real number
n 6= 3, the general reaction-diffusion process is more complicated. We analyze the
ADM used in [1] and demonstrate the efficient way of solution of the problem.

∗
Corresponding author: E-mail: gulya90@hotmail.com

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2. The Adomian decomposition method

In [1] the author used the ADM to solve the problem (1)-(2). By defining the
differential operator Lxx = d2 /dx2 , Eq. (1) becomes

Lxx u = −un . (3)

RxRx
If we take the inverse two-fold integration operator L−1
xx = 0 0
dxdx then Eq. (1)
subject to (2) yields

u = γx − L−1 n
xx (u ) , (4)
where γ = u0 (0) is to be determined by imposing u(L) = 0.
The decomposition method seeks the solution as a series [2,3],

u = u0 + u1 + u2 + ..., (5)
where

u0 = bx, un+1 = −L−1

xx (An ), n ≥ 0 (6)
and An are the Adomian polynomials given by
" n
!p #
1 d X
k
An = uk λ . (7)
n! dλn k=0
λ=0

The first few Adomian polynomials are given by [2,3]

n(n − 1) n−2 2
A0 = un0 , A1 = nun−1
0 u1 , A2 = nu0n−1 u2 + u0 u1 , (8)
2
n(n − 1)(n − 2) n−3 3
A3 = nun−1
0 u3 + n(n − 1)u0n−2 u1 u2 + u0 u1 , ...
6
and so on. Consequently, calculating a few terms in the recurrence relation (6) we
obtain

bn xn+2 nb2n−1 x2n+3

u0 (x) = bx, u1 (x) = − , u2 (x) = , (9)
(n + 1)(n + 2) 2(n + 1)2 (n + 2)(2n + 3)
3n (n2 + n − 1) b3n−2 x3n+4
u3 (x) = − , ...
3!(n + 1)3 (n + 2)2 (2n + 3)(3n + 4)

Then taking uapprox = u0 + u1 + u2 + ... + up the value of b can be determined as

a smallest positive solution of the equation uapprox (L) = 0 [1]. We shall show that

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this (standard) type approach is not efficient in most cases (this type of approach is
useful in case of initial value problems).
Let us analyze this difficulty in the case of n = 2 and L = 1. It follows from (8) and
(9) that

b2 1 3 7
u0 = bx, u1 = − (x)4 , u2 = bx,
12 252
1 4 10 1
u3 = − b x , u4 = b5 x13 ,
6048 1008 ∗ 12 ∗ 13

185 1
u5 = − b6 x16 ,
3302 208 15 ∗ 16
26 381 1
u6 = b7 x19 ,
79 252 992 18 ∗ 19
61 535 1
u7 = − b8 x22 ,
4169 926 656 21 ∗ 22

1389 887 029 1

u8 = b9 x25 ,
41 740 965 826 560 24 ∗ 25
63 088 428 391 1
u9 = − b10 x28 .
30 523 081 260 672 000 27 ∗ 28
Let us take u = u0 + ... + u9 and find b from u(1) = 0 : b = 20. 57. If we replace this
value into the expression for u9 we obtain
63 088 428 391 1
u9 (1) = − (20. 57)10 = −37080.0.
30 523 081 260 672 000 27 ∗ 28
That is the ”remainder” ( u9 (x)) is large enough and does not approach 0. The
situation remains the same as we consider the more terms in approximation. (Since
b must be found from u(1) = 0 rewriting this relationship we get

b2
     
1 3 5 1 185 1
b− + b − b4 + 5
b − b 6
12 252 336 ∗ 9 ∗ 10 1008 ∗ 12 ∗ 13 3302 208 15 ∗ 16
(10)
 
26 381 1 7 61 535 1 8
+ b − b
79 252 992 18 ∗ 19 4169 926 656 21 ∗ 22
 
1389 887 029 1 9 63 088 428 391 1 10
+ b − b + ... = 0
41 740 965 826 560 24 ∗ 25 30 523 081 260 672 000 27 ∗ 28

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Transaction on IoT and Cloud Computing 2(2) 14-22 2014

and so at least one of the parentheses must be < 0. It is easy to see that then
b > 12 -consider the first parentheses in (10)- and b increases for large enough values
of approximation’s components. That is why the coefficient ap on up = ap x3p+1
becomes large enough as p → ∞).
To overcome these difficulties we offer the next two versions of the ADM: 1) Since
the solution must be symmetric with respect to the line x = L/2 try to represent
the solution as a series of (x − L2 )k . Since the solution reaches the maximum at L/2
take u0 (L/2) = 0. We take

u0 = b,
where b is an unknown constant to be further determined. Instead of initial-boundary
conditions we consider initial conditions

uk (L/2) = 0, u0k (L/2) = 0

for each component uk , k = 1, 2, ...
2) To get rapidly convergent series solution we offer to take an initial approximation
as u0 = a sin πx where a is an unknown constant to be further determined (by taking
x = L/2 in u00 + un = 0, where u = uapprox ). This version is more suitable when n is
positive integer.

3. Applications
Example 3.1. Consider the problem

u00 + u2 = 0,
u(0) = u(1) = 0

and apply the version 1 of ADM. Now we have from

u0 = b, un+1 = −L−1
xx (An ), n ≥ 0,

that

u0 = b,
u1 = −0.5b2 (x − 0.5)2 ,
1 3
u2 = b (x − 0.5)4 ,
12
u3 = −1. 388 9 × 10−2 b4 (x − 0.5)6 ,

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u4 = 1. 984 1 × 10−3 b5 (x − 0.5)8 ,

u5 = −2. 755 8 × 10−4 b6 (x − 0.5)10 ,
u6 = 3. 674 3 × 10−5 b7 (x − 0.5)12 ,
u7 = −4. 794 8 × 10−6 b8 (x − 0.5)14

u8 = 6. 140 7 × 10−7 b9 (x − 0.5)16 ,

u9 = −7. 757 7 × 10−8 b10 (x − 0.5)18

Let us take uapprox = u0 + u1 + ... + u9 and find b from uapprox (0) = 0−some numerical
method can be used for finding b (we used standard LaTex computation): b = 11.
79. Thus we get an approximate solution

1
u = 11.79 − 0.5(11.79)2 (x − 0.5)2 + (11.79)3 (x − 0.5)4 − 1. 388 9 × 10−2 (11.79)4 (x − 0.5)6
12
+1. 984 1 × 10−3 (11.79)5 (x − 0.5)8 − 2. 755 8 × 10−4 (11.79)6 (x − 0.5)10
+3. 674 3 × 10−5 (11.79)7 (x − 0.5)12 − 4. 794 8 × 10−6 (11.79)8 (x − 0.5)14
+6. 140 7 × 10−7 (11.79)9 (x − 0.5)16 − 7. 757 7 × 10−8 (11.79)10 (x − 0.5)18 .

Now let us apply the version 2 of ADM: We take u0 = a sin πx and un+1 = −L−1
xx (An ), n ≥
0:

u0 = a sin(πx),
1 1 1 1 1
u1 = − a2 x2 + a2 x − 2 a2 cos2 πx + 2 a2 sin2 πx + 2 a2 − a sin πx,
4 4 8π 8π 8π
1 3 2 2 3 1 3 1 3
u2 = − 2 a x sin πx − 3 a x cos πx + 2 a x sin πx − 4
a cos2 πx sin πx,
2π π 2π 24π
a3 cos πx a3 sin3 πx 27 3 a2 x2 a2 cos2 πx a2 sin2 πx
+ + + 4 a sin πx + + − −
π3 72π 4 8π 2 4π 2 4π 2
a2 x a2 (π + 4a)
− ,
2 4π 3
1 4 5 1 4 4
u3 = 160 a x − 192 a x − 14 a2 x2 − 4801 4 6
a x − π33 a3 cos πx − 8π 81 3 2 4
4 a sin πx − π 5 a sin πx
3 4 3 3 4 4 435 4 2 1 2 2 451 4 2
− 32π 2 a x + 64π 2 a x − 256π 4 a x − 8π 2 a cos πx − 288π 6 a cos πx

+ 18 432π6 a cos πx + 8π2 a sin πx − 24π4 a sin πx + 288π6 a sin2 πx

25 4 4 1 2 2 1 3 3 451 4
25 4 4 1 3 2 9 4 2 2 9 4 2 2
+ 18 432π 6 a sin πx + 8π 4 a cos πx sin πx + 64π 4 a x cos πx − 64π 4 a x sin πx
2
+ π63 a3 x cos πx − 2π3 2 a3 x sin πx − 3072π
25 4 2 25 4
6 a cos πx sin πx + 32π 5 a cos πx sin πx

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Transaction on IoT and Cloud Computing 2(2) 14-22 2014

9 4 2 3 3 2 9 4 2
− 64π 4 a x cos πx + 2π 2 a x sin πx + 64π 4 a x sin πx
25 1
− 16π5 a4 x cos πx sin πx + 3840π4 a2 (180π 2 a2 + 4π 4 a2 + 960π 4 + 6525a2 ) x
9613 4 3 3 1 2
+ 6144π 6 a + π 3 a + 8π 2 a .

(We used very easy LaTex tools for finding integrals). Now we calculate the number
a from the relationship

u00 + u2 = 0,
where u ≈ u0 + u1 + u2 + u3 and x = 0.5. We obtain a = 11. 569. The Table 3.1 shows
the errors in the solutions and comparison with the errors in [1]. As it is seen from
table the error dramatically increases as x goes to 1 and the approximate solution in
fact, has no relationship with the solution in case of standard ADM application [1].
Table 3.1. Errors in approximate solution for example 3.1
9 3
µk Error in u00 + u2 = 0 Error in u00 + u2 = 0 Error in u00 + u2 = 0
P P
x uappr = µk uappr =
k=0 k=0
9
P
(u0 = b) (u0 = a sin πx) (u0 = b) (u0 = a sin x) in [1] uappr = µk
k=0
0.0 0 0.0 0.0 2. 566 5 × 10−3 0.0
0.1 3. 300 9 3. 297 6 0.114 5 2. 594 2 × 10−2 4. 903 6 × 10−5
0.2 6. 471 2 6. 469 1 6. 061 × 10−3 9. 843 5 × 10−2 1. 977 2 × 10−4
0.3 9. 212 3 9. 210 9 5. 585 2 × 10−3 0.136 82 1. 117 1 × 10−3
0.4 11. 108 11. 107 4. 505 7 × 10−3 3. 547 4 × 10−2 9. 882 2 × 10−2
0.5 11. 79 11. 788 0.00 5. 400 3 × 10−2 5. 736 6
0.6 11. 108 11. 107 4. 505 7 × 10−3 3. 547 4 × 10−2 198. 22
0.7 9. 212 3 9. 210 9 5. 585 2 × 10−3 0.136 82 4292. 8
0.9 3. 300 9 3. 297 6 0.114 5 2. 594 2 × 10−2 7946 90

Example 3.2. Consider the problem

u00 + u3 = 0,
u(0) = u(1) = 0.
We take u0 = a sin πx and un+1 = −L−1
xx (An ), n ≥ 0 :

u0 = a sin(πx),
 
1 1 3 9 3
u1 = − a sin 3πx − a sin πx + 12πa sin πx ,
12π 3π π
6a5 sin 5πx
 
1 2460 5 290 5 3 3
u2 = a sin πx − a sin 3πx + − 3240πa sin πx + 120πa sin 3πx ,
1440π 3 π 3π 5π
1 3925 250 7
u3 = − 5
(63 000π 3 a3 sin 3πx − a sin πx − 1701 000π 3 a3 sin πx
756 000π π
470 470 7 12 614 7 130 7
+ a sin 3πx − a sin 5πx + a sin 7πx + 6457 500πa5 sin πx
3π 5π 7π
−253 750πa5 sin 3πx + 3150πa5 sin 5πx).

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To find a we take u = u0 + u1 + u2 + u3 in u00 + u3 = 0 and replace x = 0.5. Thus we

obtain a = 3.6033. If we use the ADM as in [1] we obtain

u0 = bx,
1
u1 = − b3 x5 ,
20
1 5 9
u2 = bx,
480
11
u3 = − b7 x13 ,
124 800
211
u4 = b9 x17 ,
56 576 000
1607
u5 = − b11 x21 .
10 183 680 000
The Table 3.2 demonstrates the errors in the solution and the comparison with the
errors in [1].

Table 3.2. Errors in approximate solution for Example 3.2

x Error in u00 + u3 = 0 Error in u00 + u2 = 0 in [1]

(u = u0 + ... + u3 ) (u = u0 + ... + u5 )
0.0 0.0 0.0
0.1 2. 763 2 × 10−3 2. 851 5 × 10−6
0.2 1. 724 0 × 10−2 2. 274 5 × 10−5
0.3 0.136 73 7. 578 0 × 10−5
0.4 0.121 86 1. 748 4 × 10−4
0.5 0.0 5. 673 3 × 10−4
0.6 0.121 86 1. 621 6 × 10−2
0.7 0.136 73 0.490 05
0.8 1. 724 0 × 10−2 9. 079 4
0.9 2. 763 2 × 10−3 112.57
1.0 0.0 1004. 7
Note that our approach is efficient not only for larger values of n ≥ 2, but also for values of n < 2.
The following example demonstrates the advantage of the method used here for n = 1/2:
Example 3.3. Consider the problem

u00 + u1/2 = 0,
u(0) = u(1) = 0.

We take u0 = b and un+1 = −L−1

xx (An ), n ≥ 0 :

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u0 = b, A0 = b1/2
b1/2
 1/2 
2 1 −0.5 b 2
u1 = − (x − 0.5) , A1 = (b) − (x − 0.5)
2 2 2
1 4
u2 = (x − 0.5) ,
4 ∗ 12
   1/2 2
1 −0.5 1 4 1 1 1 −(3/2) b 2
A2 = (b) (x − 0.5) − (b) − (x − 0.5)
2 4 ∗ 12 222 2
2. 083 3 × 10−2 6
u3 = √ (x − 0.5) , ...
b ∗ 30
Let us take uapprox = u0 + u1 + u2 + u3 and calculate b from uapprox (1) = 0. We obtain b = 0.335 53.
If we proceed as in [1] we get

u0 = bx, A0 = b1/2 x1/2 ,

b1/2 b1/2
 
1 −0.5
u1 = − 3 5 x5/2 , A1 = (bx) − 3 5 x5/2
2 ∗ 2 2 ∗ 2
2
2 x4
u2 = ,
15 12
2
2 x4 b1/2 5/2
  
1 −0.5 111 −(3/2)
A2 = (bx) − (bx) −3 5x ,
2 ∗ 2
2 15 12 222
3. 333 3 × 10−3 5.5
u3 = √ x ,
b ∗ 4.5 ∗ 5.5
1/2 4 −3
2 x
and taking uapprox = bx − b3 ∗ 5 x5/2 + 15 12 +
3.√
333 3×10
b∗4.5∗5.5
x5.5 , uapprox (1) = 0 gives b = 0.459 33.
2 2
The Table 3.3 shows the absolute errors in the solutions and comparison with the errors in [1].

Table 3.3. Errors in approximate solution for Example 3.3.

x Errors in u00 + u1/2 = 0 Errors in u00 + u1/2 = 0 in [1]

(u = u0 + ... + u3 ) (u = u0 + ... + u3 )
0.0 0.0 0.0
0.1 6. 513 2 × 10−5 3. 522 3 × 10−6
0.2 1. 155 7 × 10−5 5. 238 3 × 10−6
0.3 1. 432 2 × 10−6 8. 159 × 10−6
0.4 5. 001 1 × 10−7 1. 593 7 × 10−5
0.5 4. 855 4 × 10−7 3. 569 × 10−5
0.6 5. 001 1 × 10−7 7. 974 6 × 10−5
0.7 1. 432 2 × 10−6 1. 677 7 × 10−4
0.8 1. 155 7 × 10−5 3. 294 8 × 10−4
0.9 6. 513 2 × 10−5 6. 082 9 × 10−4
0.99 2. 293 1 × 10−4 1. 010 1 × 10−3
1.0 2. 603 3 × 10−4 1. 066 2 × 10−3

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4. Conclusions
The one of the main strengths of ADM is in fact its fast convergence, but the form of initial
approximation and initial-boundary conditions are very important for the efficiency of the ADM.
We revised an Adomian decomposition method proposed by Lesnic [1] applied for solving a nonlinear
reaction-diffusion equation. The method is of remarkable simplicity, while the obtained results are
of utter accuracy on the whole solution domain. The idea used here can be applied to various other
nonlinear problems without any difficulty.

References
[1] D. Lesnic, A nonlinear reaction-diffusion process using the Adomian decomposition method,
International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer, 34 (2) (2007) 129-135.

[2] G. Adomian, Solving Frontier Problems of Physics: The Decomposition Method, Kluwer Aca-
demic Publ, Dordrecht, 1994.

[3] G. Adomian, A review of the decomposition method in applied mathematics, Journal of Math-
ematical Analysis and Applications 135 (1988) 501-544.

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