Localization Coefficients of Functions with Applications in Partial Differential Equations

We identify shortcomings in two popular measures of localization of functions: the $L^p-L^q$ participation ratio and the mass concentration comparison. We then introduce a novel localization measure for functions on bounded subsets of ${\mathbf{R}}^d$, $d=1,2,3,\dots$, based on a Wasserstein metric. For efficient computation, we prove the equality of this measure with a suitable Sobolev norm in dimension one. We demonstrate our approach by numerical experiments in one and two dimensions. Finally, we discuss and mitigate challenges arising from boundary effects.