Wavelength selection mechanism in the Gierer-Meinhardt model (Q1114613)

We apply the concept of marginal stability hypothesis, which has been proposed for solving the problem of dendritic crystal growth, to the pattern selection problem in the Gierer-Meinhardt models. In the case of a large system, the system selects a definite wavelength of the ultimate spatial pattern when the unstable homogeneous steady state is locally disturbed. The numerical results are analyzed theoretically by means of the marginal stability hypothesis, and they are in good agreement with it. Biologically, these results imply why for large systems the Gierer- Meinhardt model (and presumably other reaction-diffusion schemes) have the ability to explain the observation that pattern-generating mechanisms are remarkably insensitive to a wide range of environmental and experimental conditions.