Heat equations driven by mixed local-nonlocal operators with exponential nonlinearity

We investigate the Cauchy problem for a heat equation driven by the mixed local-nonlocal operator $\mathcal{L}:=-\Delta+(-\Delta)^s$, $s\in(0,1)$, with exponential nonlinearity $$\partial_tu(x,t)+\mathcal{L}u(x,t)=f(u(x,t)), \qquad (x,t)\in \mathbb{R}^{d}\times(0,\infty),$$ where $f:\mathbb{R}\to\mathbb{R}$ exhibits exponential growth at infinity and satisfies $f(0)=0$. We establish local well-posedness in a suitable Orlicz space in the case where $f(u)\sim e^{|u|^p}$ as $|u|\to\infty$, with $p>1$. We further prove the existence of global solutions for small initial data under the assumption that $f$ satisfies the growth condition $|f(u)|\sim |u|^m$ near the origin. Moreover, we derive large-time decay estimates in Lebesgue spaces, showing that the behavior of the nonlinearity near the origin determines the decay rate of solutions and highlights a unique asymptotic transition that bridges local and non-local diffusion theories.