Paper detail

Modeling diffusion in thin $2D$-layers separated by a semi-permeable membrane

Motivated by models of signaling pathways in B lymphocytes, which have extremely large nuclei, we study the question of how reaction-diffusion equations in thin $2D$ domains may be approximated by diffusion equations in regions of smaller dimensions. In particular, we study how transmission conditions featuring in the approximating equations become integral parts of the limit master equation. We device a scheme which, by appropriate rescaling of coefficients and finding a common reference space for all Feller semigroups involved, allows deriving the form of the limit equation formally. The results obtained, expressed as convergence theorems for the Feller semigroups, may also be interpreted as a weak convergence of underlying stochastic processes.