Brauns F, Weyer H, Halatek J, Yoon J, Frey E. Wavelength Selection by Interrupted Coarsening in Reaction-Diffusion Systems.
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 2021;
126:104101. [PMID:
33784126 DOI:
10.1103/physrevlett.126.104101]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2020] [Revised: 10/19/2020] [Accepted: 12/09/2020] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Wavelength selection in reaction-diffusion systems can be understood as a coarsening process that is interrupted by counteracting processes at certain wavelengths. We first show that coarsening in mass-conserving systems is driven by self-amplifying mass transport between neighboring high-density domains. We derive a general coarsening criterion and show that coarsening is generically uninterrupted in two-component systems that conserve mass. The theory is then generalized to study interrupted coarsening and anticoarsening due to weakly broken mass conservation, providing a general path to analyze wavelength selection in pattern formation far from equilibrium.
Collapse