A splitting method for nonlinear diffusions with nonlocal, nonpotential drifts

We prove an existence result for nonlinear diffusion equations in the presence of a nonlocal density-dependent drift which is not necessarily potential. The proof is constructive and based on the Helmholtz decomposition of the drift and a splitting scheme. The splitting scheme combines transport steps by the divergence-free part of the drift and semi-implicit minimization steps a la Jordan-Kinderlherer Otto to deal with the potential part.