Stability for a class of equilibrium solutions to the coagulation-fragmentation equation

We consider the behaviour of solutions to the continuous constant-rate coagulation-fragmentation equation in the vicinity of an equilibrium solution. Semigroup methods are used to show that the governing linear equation for a perturbation epsilon(x,t) has a unique globally defined solution for suitable initial conditions. In addition, Laplace transforms and the method of characteristics lead to an explicit formula for epsilon. The long-term behavior of epsilon is also discussed