Infinite propagation speed (source code)

= Infinite propagation speed

Infinite propagation speed means that a disturbance initially confined to a bounded region can affect arbitrarily distant points after any positive time. The strictly positive <heat kernel> gives this behavior for a nontrivial nonnegative diffusion solution. It contrasts with the <finite propagation speed> of the <wave equation>; a very small distant response is still mathematically nonzero.