Simple and superlattice Turing patterns in reaction-diffusion systems: Bifurcation, bistability, and parameter collapse (Q1961656)

This paper extends existing studies of Turing patterns in reaction-diffusion systems \[ u_t=\Delta u+ f(u,v),\quad v_t= K\Delta v+ g(u,v),\quad K>1.\tag{\(*\)} \] The analysis is restricted to existence and stability of patterns that periodically tile the \((x,y)\)-plane in either a square or hexagonal fashion. Both simple periodic (stripes, squares, hexagons and rhombs) and ``superlattice'' patterns are considered. Analytic expressions for the coefficients of the leading terms in the bifurcation equations are computed from \((*)\) using standard perturbation methods. It is shown that the quadratic and cubic terms of \(f\), \(g\) enter the analysis through only four parameters, and in certain degenerate hexagonal case the number of effective parameters even drops to two, allowing a complete characterization of the possible bifurcation behavior. These general results are then applied to some specific model equations including the chlorite-iodide-malonic acid reaction model, proposed by Lengyel and Epstein. Numerical calculations are finally carried out to test the analytical predictions.